


Blind Pursuit

by de_stylinson



Category: Harry Styles - Fandom, Louis Tomlinson - Fandom, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Ending Available, Alternate Universe, Blind Character, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 07:12:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17935223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/de_stylinson/pseuds/de_stylinson
Summary: a story about falling in love with the world around you and others even when you can't see it for yourself...





	1. Adrenaline

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO! I AM SO EXCITED TO BE WRITING THIS STORY. The plot popped in my head one day and I wanted to just write it so here we are! ^_^ Big supershout to @kissy_tommo on Twitter for helping me write this and correcting all my mistakes. typical disclaimer:
> 
> THIS WORK IS ENTIRELY FICTIONAL. ALSO, PLEASE BE ADVISED THERE WILL PROBABLY BE MEDICAL INACCURACIES RELATED TO LOUIS'S CONDITION, BUT I AM TRYING TO MAKE IT AS REAL AS POSSIBLE. 
> 
> feedback is always appreciated and my Twitter is @GUCCI_GHOSTS

_**Thursday, September 3rd, 19:30** _

 

Harry can’t help but scream from pure adrenaline as he speeds down the street on his motorcycle, the police sirens blaring as they chase behind him. He has just been caught stealing at the local corner store and he assumes the cashier remembered him from one of his previous escapades and called the cops earlier than he was expecting. This doesn’t matter to Harry too much though, it makes the chase that much more fun.

You see, this is his life. It has been for about as long as he can remember. He was born to his single mother Anne, the one and only person in his life who he ever loved, in possibly the poorest part of London. They had no money growing up and by the time Harry turned seven, he had learned how to steal essentially anything that he needed. One of his greatest talents is pick-pocketing and he has managed to come away with some pretty good steals (no pun intended). Stealing has become his way of life and while Anne obviously doesn’t approve of her son’s lifestyle, she knows that it is the only reason why they have food to eat every single night and just enough clothes to get by. At the age of 11 he found out that he was only attracted to boys, which made him the laughing stock of his school for a few years. But that was only until he taught himself to fight and that shut his bullies up rather quickly. He’s been kicked out of school before but every time he is, Anne makes him write a letter of apology and they end up taking him back for some ungodly reason. Now at the age of 17, Harry is the kid in his school that no one wants to talk to (mostly because they’re afraid of him). He simply goes to the fewest number of classes that he needs to, gets a disgusting meal and leaves.

His mom is in and out of simple jobs throughout the stores in all the various towns they move into, that happen to be hiring. When they moved this time, to Harry's surprise, it was back to the place in London where Harry had grown up as a boy. He was happy to have some familiarity back in his life, but he wasn't happy that his mom was getting back together with probably her worst ex-boyfriend to date. Anne has had a multitude of horrible relationships, most of them usually ending up in her being abused either physically, verbally, mentally, or in the worst cases: all of the above. One of the worst cases by far was Tom. Harry hates that guy so much he doesn't even bother to refer to him by his actual name. It makes him sick when that three letter word rolls off anyone's tongue. Her bad relationships have caused her to pick up one of her main habits: drinking alcohol and a lot of it. It hurts Harry to no end, but he knows better than anyone that sometimes we all need a little escape from the shitty reality of our lives.

Harry glances in his side-view mirror, slightly surprised by how the police cars were actually gaining on him. But luckily, he knew this area better than they ever would. He turns the bike on a dime to conceal himself down a narrow alleyway, one that he knows the cars won’t be able to follow him down. The alley allowed him to have a shortcut to the next street over and gain a serious lead on the cops. He continues to zip in and out of the surrounding traffic, occasionally turning around to find that he had lost the cops and smiling to himself at his success. He finishes the rest of his journey to his block, turning his motorcycle off as he slows to a stop in front of his house (he's using the word house very, very loosely).

“Harry mate!” He hears a thick Irish accent, instantly recognizing it to be his best friend Niall. Or what Harry considers to be the closest thing he could ever have to a best friend. He met Niall when he and his mom moved back into town at the end of May. They spent basically the entire summer together, and Harry was honestly a bit excited that he was going to have someone on his side for when the school year started up. Niall and his dad lived in the shack next door and Niall had always been a bit of a nosy body, so it took him quite a while to earn Harry’s trust. Niall and Harry had very similar living situations, but the biggest difference between them was their attitudes about their said living situations. Niall was much more positive about where they were at in life than Harry. Niall would never even think about doing anything that would break the law, and he is always a bit fearful when Harry does something illegal. But he knows he will never change Harry’s mind despite the occasional conversation he tries to have with him about being “law abiding citizens”. Even so, Niall is probably the only person that Harry likes, the one who knows Harry’s actual personality and gets to see some emotions out of him.

“Whatcha got today?” he asks, motioning to the rucksack Harry has laying across his shoulder. Harry rolls his eyes, but he can’t contain his smile. Niall’s constant questions used to bug Harry to no end but now, as much as he hates to admit it, he’s grown quite fond of them.

“I’ll show you inside. Let me just tell you, we are gonna have a bloody feast tonight.” Niall beams at the idea of significant amounts of food. The pair enter Harry’s house and are met with nothing but darkness and cold. With the limited funds that Harry and his mom make, they can rarely afford to pay the heating bill so they just have collected a copious amount of blankets over the years. Niall doesn’t comment on it because he understands Harry’s situation and he knows bringing it up won’t help anyone. “I was able to grab ravioli this time and a couple cupcakes from the Texaco.” Harry is clearly proud of his steal and the look of pure joy on Niall’s face makes him feel that much better. He reaches into his bag, pulling out the cans of ravioli and packets of sweets, placing them on the tiny fold-up table in the center of the room, otherwise known as the dinner table.

“H, this is bloody amazing mate, this is the best food you’ve ever been able to grab!” Niall’s hands go towards one of the packages of cupcakes before Harry stops him,

“Not before dinner you dimwit!” Niall laughs but succumbs to Harry’s wishes.

Harry rolls his eyes as he smiles, heading into the kitchen to retrieve the only pot they own from the sink. He places it on the burner hoping it warms the pan quickly so the gas bill doesn’t get too high. He and Niall continue their chat as they wait for their meal to heat up to an edible enough temperature when Anne enters the house at a time much earlier than usual. When Harry sees the look of sadness on her face, he instantly feels sick to his stomach. He has seen this look before… more times than he would like to count.

“What’re you doing back so early Anne?” Niall asks, and Harry is thankful Niall is here, that way he doesn’t have to ask the heartbreaking question. Anne scratches the back of her neck with her hand, clearing her throat quietly, not daring to make eye contact with either of the boys.

“I um… I was let go… the store didn’t have enough money to keep all their employees and since I was there the least amount of time… I was the first to go.” Harry can hear the emotion in her voice, the frustration with not only their entire living situation, but with herself.

“Mum… there’s nothing you could have done, it’s not like they fired you for something you did or didn’t do.” He watches as she simply nods, unconvinced about what her son has just said to her, and walks to the cabinet retrieving a bottle of alcohol. No no no… Please don’t start this again. Anne used to have quite a bad drinking problem but Harry was so proud of her for cutting down immensely. But, when she is stressed, she can’t help but have a couple of drinks. As if reading her son’s mind, Anne replies,

“I’m only having one Harry… I think I deserve that.” Harry bites his lip, preventing him from finishing his thought. He turns his attention back to Niall who is watching him with sad eyes, knowing how much this bothers Harry. The rest of their meal is eaten in pure silence and Niall quietly says goodbye before Harry heads upstairs, closing the door to his room, wishing for nothing more in that moment than for his shitty life to get better. He somehow manages to doze off as his mind is swarming with negative thoughts.

~

Harry is suddenly woken up by the sound of screaming coming from downstairs. What a great sound to wake up to the day before his final year of secondary school. The familiar feeling of adrenaline starts to course through his veins as he heads down the staircase skipping multiple steps at a time before seeing Tom, wrapping his huge, filthy hands around his mother’s neck. Tom just looks dirty and it matches the shitty personality and lack of a heart he has inside.

“Get the fuck off of her you sick bastard!” Harry shouts, jolting toward the man, taking him down onto the cold, hard surface of their concrete floor. Harry uses this as a great opportunity to take out all of his frustrations. With every punch he throws to this low life’s face he can feel himself slowly calming down and sadly coming back to reality… Which is when he can hear his mother screaming,

“Harry! Harry you’re gonna kill him!” It takes Harry a moment to come down from his adrenaline rush and now he feels a bit like he’s in a trance, as if he’s with it but not with it at the same time. His mom pushes him back away from the man’s body, “What the fuck is wrong with you?! What were you thinking?” Anne asks and Harry actually laughs. He laughs because she can’t be serious, can she?

“He was choking you! What, were you just gonna let him fucking kill you or something!?” Harry has been really angry at his mother before, but this was a level of rage that he never quite felt before. He honestly cannot believe that she is sticking up for this scumbag who was literally about to knock her out or worse.

Anne scoffs, “He wasn’t going to kill me Harry!” Now Harry actually does laugh because this is simply all too funny.

“Next time you are screaming, don’t look for me to come help you then. I want no part of it.” He states simply, before walking toward the front door of the house and grabbing his jacket.

“Fucking hell, where are you going?”

Harry decides to keep his mouth shut because he knows if he doesn’t he will probably end up saying something that he’ll regret. He slams the door closed behind him as he fumbles around with the sleeves of his leather jacket trying to get it on him. He reaches into the right pocket pulling out his zippo and pack of cigarettes, taking a long drag. He sighs with relief as he finally feels himself settling down again. Harry realizes as he’s coming down from the adrenaline rush that he’s actually really tired. He picks up his pace a little bit, already knowing where his final destination is.

He smiles at the sight of the park in front of him, making his way towards his favorite oak tree. When Harry was small and his parents would get into horrific arguments, this is the exact place he would come to hide, to escape… to try and forget about everything that was happening at home. His lanky arms scale the trunk of the tree quickly and Harry crawls to his little nook breathing a deep sigh of relief. One of his favorite things about this spot has always been the view of the bustling city in front of him and the calming starry sky above him. Harry likes to think of the combination of these two views as a perfect balance between the busyness of life versus that perfect calm that everyone desires.

“Hey, what’re you doing up there?” Harry is stunned to hear the voice of another human at this time of the morning, in this specific spot. He turns and looks down to see a brown haired boy staring up at him, cigarette lit in his mouth. Harry focuses back on the view in front of him,

“Don’t really think it’s any of your business considering I have no idea who the fuck you are…” He fumbles around with one of the straps hanging down from his jacket as the other boy continues to speak.

“Bad night at home Harry?” Harry’s eyebrows furrow in curiosity and confusion. He turns back to the boy, thoroughly shocked that this complete stranger knows his name. He decides to climb back down the tree,

“How the fuck do you know my name? Who are you?” The other boy laughs, taking another drag of his cigarette. He pulls a pack out of his pocket, offering one up to Harry. “No thanks, I got my own…” The other boy nods,

“My name’s Liam.” Harry thinks this Liam character is a bit forward and creepy for knowing his name.

“And you still haven’t told me how you know who I am.” He states simply,

“It’s not really important.”

“No offense Liam, if that even is your real name, but you are really fucking creepy.” Liam laughs again, sitting on the ground, clearly very comfortable in the park and seemingly around new people as well.

“I’ve been watching you.” Harry can feel Liam eyeing him as he talks, which is one of Harry’s biggest pet peeves. He hates when people just stare at him.

“Excuse me?” It comes out a bit more harsh than Harry was anticipating, but hopefully it gets the point across. Liam doesn’t seem too affected and gives an honest reply.

“I go to the same school as you. Why haven’t you seen me around?” Harry laughs sarcastically,

“Probably because it’s still summertime. We don’t start school until tomorrow.” Liam laughs a lot more than Harry really thinks is necessary.

“You are a lot funnier than I thought you’d be if I’m honest mate… Is it safe to assume that you won’t be attending much school this year either?”

“I don’t do school. I mean I do, but I don’t go nearly as much as I should. I have much bigger problems in my life than needing to attend fucking school. And I don’t know why I am telling you any of this.” This causes Liam to laugh and Harry to start feeling even weirder about this entire situation.

“Yeah I know, that's why I have been meaning to speak with you.” Harry turns towards Liam now, taking in his appearance. He is rather strongly built, he’s got brown eyes and a bit of stubble. His hair is quiffed high with an overabundance of hair gel and his arms are littered with tattoos.

“Well here I am, now start talking before I change my mind.” Harry says, his eyes never leaving Liam as he is now feeling a bit suspicious of him.

“You just look like the exact person we need in our society…” Liam says, as if Harry has any idea what he’s talking about.

“Society? Listen mate, ‘m not interested in joining any clubs or shit like that.” Harry decides that he’s heard enough and figures everything has settled down at his house so its safe enough for him to go back now.

“Wait wait, hear me out.” Harry stops and sighs, turning back around to Liam with an unamused look on his face. “It’s not a club like they’ve got in school or any bullshit like that… It’s a club filled with a bunch of guys like us. Ones that have shitty lives at home, who need to bend the law a bit in order to survive.” Harry’s interest is suddenly peaking. He takes a couple steps closer to Liam, as a signal for him to keep talking, which Liam does. “We can teach you how to get serious cash so you can afford real food instead of that nasty shit from petrol stations.” Harry is rendered speechless, he has a lot of questions he wants to ask, but he’s so tired now that he cannot even think of what he wants to say.

“Look, like I said, the club has been watching you, we are interested. We know you’ve got some crazy pickpocket skills, you’d be a valuable asset to us… We are gonna have a meeting at Sulley’s pub on Saturday night, 8pm. Come by if you’re interested.” Harry nods simply before turning on his heels and making the dreaded journey back to his house. When he enters it is quiet, which is music to his ears. He steps lightly down the hallway, peeking into his mom’s room, anger replacing the temporary calm in his body again as he sees her in bed with the same man who tried to kill her less than two hours ago. He rolls his eyes, unable to understand why she settles for such scumbags… In this moment, Harry decides he is never going to even bother with love.

~

**_Friday, 06:45_ **

“Boo Bear! Breakfast is ready love!” Jay calls down the hall as Louis finishes getting himself ready for his day.

“I’ll be right down!” he replies, grabbing his white cane and heads across the hall to his sister Fizzy’s room. “Fiz, can you please fix my fringe, I can just tell that it isn’t right.” She smiles at her brother,

“Of course Lou, I’ve got you… But it actually doesn’t look as bad as it normally does!” She laughs as Louis gently hits her legs with his cane.

“You little shit…” he says, his voice filled with nothing but love for his sister. Felicite is Louis’s only sibling and they have gotten very close over the years. She helps him out with anything and everything Louis ever needs and he quite honestly could not be more grateful for her.

Louis was born with a rare condition known as a uveal coloboma, which caused him to lose his eyesight at a very young age. Since then however, he has been able to adapt wonderfully, and while he sometimes wishes he can see, a lot of the time he feels as if he has a better appreciation for the world because he can’t.

He navigates his way around with his white cane, which is used to determine whether or not there are any objects in his immediate surroundings, and he has become acclimated to reading and writing with braille. It has been far from easy, but with Louis’s positive attitude, it makes things much easier.

“Louis! Felicite! Your food is getting cold!” The pair can’t help but laugh, since its only been about one minute since she last called them downstairs.

“Oiii we’re coming, we’re coming!” Louis shouts in response, Fizzy handing him his cane as the two make their way to the kitchen.

“Could you be any slower you two?” Jay says with a bright smile on her face, unable to contain her own laughter as well. Louis’s dad died when he was about three, so he doesn’t remember too much about him, but what he does know is that his mom is a saint. Ever since they were born, Jay has sacrificed so much of herself to care for Louis and Fizzy and has taught them both so much about life. Louis especially cannot express his love for her in words. Through every challenge he has ever been faced with, she has always been his number one supporter, cheering him on through it all. The trio have a typical pre-school chat, Jay asking Louis and Fizzy about what they are looking forward to this school year and what some of their goals are.

“I’m looking forward to trying to help as many people as I can… and to keep my stellar attendance record intact.” Louis says with a giggle. He hasn’t missed a day of school ever. He says it is mostly due to his impeccable immune system, but also because he never wants to miss a day of school; he wants to learn as much as possible. Jay smiles proudly at her son, Fizzy meanwhile rolling her eyes.

“Christ almighty Lou, we all can’t be you.” Louis laughs as he finishes his plate of eggs.

“Mum what time is it?” Louis asks, always in constant fear that he is going to miss the bus, which would never actually happen because he is always at least ten minutes ahead of schedule.

“You’ve got about five minutes till the bus boo.” Louis cringes slightly at the childhood nickname his mom still uses but doesn’t have much time to think about it. He gets up from the table, reaching for his cane, navigating his way to the foyer where his backpack has been sitting, all set-up since last night. He reaches down, putting his Adidas trainers on his feet, slinging his backpack over his shoulder just in time to hear his mom calling out to him. “Bus is here you guys!” Louis headed towards the door, not bothering to wait for Fizzy because he knows she will be running down the stairs after him any second.

“See you later mum, I love you!” Louis heads down the driveway, hearing the roar of the bus engine, smelling the exhaust and he is becoming more and more excited to start his final year of school before university. He reaches the end of the driveway, hearing the bus driver, Linda, open the doors to the school bus.

“There’s my favorite student in the entire world!” Louis smiles, cheeks turning a bit red, which usually happens when he gets complimented.

“Well hello to you too, my favorite bus driver! Looking forward to another year with ya!” Louis takes one of the first seats available, knowing the bus tends to fill up more in the back.

“Hey thanks for waiting for me arsehole.” Louis feels the seat dip down next to him, indicating Fizzy has joined him on the bus. He can’t help but laugh, which earns him a punch in the arm. “You’re lucky I love you.” He can tell based on the tone of her voice that she is smiling and, wow, he really loves his sister so much. The bus doors close and they begin to move forward, Louis momentarily wishing he could glance out the window at the sights, see the blue sky and the green of the trees. He sucks in a breath, refusing to feel sorry for himself.

“Lou, you alright?” Fizzy can sense her brother’s sadness, as she places a comforting hand on his shoulder. Louis nods, snapping out of it. He sometimes gets into those depressive states, which people understand considering Louis’s circumstances, but he hates feeling sorry for himself. Some people can see but have so much other shit going on… they have horrible lives. Louis has always been a strong believer in the idea that if not being able to see is his biggest problem, he didn’t make it too bad.

The bus comes to a rather abrupt stop, letting Louis know that they have arrived at their stop. “Ready brother?” Louis turns, reaching out trying to find his sister’s hand to help him out of their seat. She helps him up, allowing him to go in front of her. The sibling pair thank Linda as they step off the bus, Louis already hearing the chaos of the students chattering all around him. As they get closer to the building, Fiz decides to go off and meet her friends. “Love you Lou, I’ll meet you by the bus stop at 2:30!” She hugs him quickly before running off, leaving Louis to fend for himself for about two seconds.

“Tommo mate!” Louis hears that recognizable Bradford accent that could only belong to one person: his best mate Zayn. Well… actually Louis thinks his title should be best mate and protector because Zayn always looks out for him and has his back. The pair have been friends since they were small, as Zayn’s mom was very good friends with his own through their work at the hospital. “You ready for this? This is going to be our year!” Louis smiles and he can’t help but share a similar sentiment to Zayn, something about this school year just feels positive.

“Yeah let’s get it started! Time to start winning!” Zayn smiles at his friend, always admiring him and his constant positivity. The pair head inside the crowded hallways, which is by far Louis’s least favorite place to walk around. Mostly because people appear everywhere at any given time which makes it incredibly difficult to figure out exactly where he needs to go. Zayn begins to talk about all of the various art projects he has on tap to add to his portfolio this term when suddenly he feels someone trip over his cane, causing Louis to lose his footing and almost fall directly on his face, while the other party in this situation… did fall on their face.

“Shit are you fucking kidding me right now!?” The person who fell was a guy… with a really really deep voice. It honestly gives Louis a chill (he hasn’t determined whether or not it is a good chill). Louis doesn’t know what happens next until he feels a pair of hands on his shoulders pushing him backwards and sending him flying onto the ground, landing on his bum with a thud. He feels a sharp pain shooting up his arm from his wrist. “What are you blind you fucking arsehole!?” The same voice screams at him and Louis is getting pissed now. Who does this jerk think he is? Zayn steps in at this point, punching the stranger in his face.

“Watch what you say you rotten piece of filth! You don’t know what he’s going through at all, so shove it up your arse.” Zayn spits, sending an uppercut to the other man’s jaw. Louis feels sick as he lays on the ground. This cannot be happening. Not on their first day of their final year of school. Louis attempts to get up but when he tries to prop himself up on his wrist he can’t. He can’t help but worry that he’s broken his wrist. He hears footsteps running towards them rapidly.

“Harry mate, are you serious!?” Louis is surprised by a thick Irish accent. He then feels a pair of much gentler hands helping him up before handing him back his cane. “Sorry about him mate, he’s… I don’t even know what to say right now.” Louis bites his lip uncomfortably, nodding, trying to make the Irish man feel less bad about his shitty friend who has a really shitty attitude. Louis can hear this Harry character mumbling and Louis turns in his direction, using his cane to get closer,

“And just for your information, mate, I am blind. So maybe you should think about what you say before you say it next time.” He starts down the hallway, Zayn immediately coming up beside him, helping him get to his class.

“Lou… Are you-” Louis instantly cuts Zayn off. Nope. He doesn’t need anyone to feel sorry for him, to ask him if he’s ok. Louis has had this happen to him enough times… so he isn’t quite sure why this incident hurts so much more than the others.

“Zayn. I’m fine. Seriously. He’s just a jerk ok? Lets just leave it be. We never know what he might be going through.” He hears Zayn sigh. Zayn himself in pure awe, wondering how, despite what just happened, Louis still is giving Harry the benefit of the doubt.

Down the hall Niall is trying to talk Harry down, knowing that an incident like this could easily escalate into something much much worse. Harry is pretty unfazed by the entire situation, if he’s being honest. He doesn’t feel a bit bad about what he said to that nerdy looking kid, like how was he supposed to know that he was blind?

“Harry. We really can’t have you get in trouble on your first day here.” Harry rolls his eyes and goes to open his mouth, but Niall doesn’t let him get too far, “Seriously H. The tolerance for bullshit at this school is really low, they won’t give you many warnings before the kick you out. They’ll just do it.” Harry scratches his neck, sighing, knowing deep down, as much as he doesn’t want to admit it, that Niall is right. “Alright… Let’s get you to class…”

~

The rest of the day luckily went better than the morning did, Louis had gotten all of the teachers and courses he wanted and thankfully he knew at least one person in each class. Before he knows it, it’s time for the last class of the day… Math. Probably, no definitely, Louis’s least favorite subject. He engages in some chit chat with his friend Stan, who is taking over Zayn’s duties of walking Louis to class since they are in Math together. They walk in and find seats in the middle of the room. Louis always felt like the middle was the safest option. If you sit in the front, you look too eager, but if you sit in the back you look like you are up to something bad.

“Hey Lou… I think that dick that tried to pick a fight with you this morning is in this class.” Louis sighs, upset that he was going to have to share time in his day with this guy, but he knows there is no way out of it, so he is just going to have to make the most of it…


	2. Curious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry finds himself awfully curious about Louis and Zayn finds himself awfully curious about what it would feel like to punch Harry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone I'm back! :) I hope you all enjoy this chapter and as always, feedback is welcomed and appreciated.
> 
> SHOUTOUT TO CAROLINE FOR BEING THE BEST BETA ^_^

Louis instantly hears Harry’s deep voice, following it to try and figure out where he is going to sit down. He’s also trying to ignore the goosebumps on his arms from just hearing that raspy sound that he can only describe as Harry. 

 

“Honestly, I’m a bit surprised he even showed up to class… He umm, doesn’t really seem like the type.” Stan whispers to Louis, before turning around briefly to make sure Harry didn’t hear him. This leaves Louis wondering what Harry actually looks like… What he’s picturing in his mind is someone with some outlandish hair style, probably black hair, with dark brown eyes. He is pulled from his thoughts when his teacher, Mr. Corden, starts to give the first lecture of the school year.

 

“Alright everyone, I am handing out the course schedules now, please give them a look over tonight, they will be very helpful in preparing you for the class. I will be following this schedule very closely and we are going to be on track to have our first exam next week!” The entire class lets out a collective gasp at that statement. 

 

“Are you serious!? It’s literally Friday right now! How is that fair!?” The rest of the class instantly becomes quiet after Harry speaks. Louis can’t say he is all too surprised, he figures Harry would be the defiant student who thinks he is better than all the school stuff. 

 

Mr. Corden looks at his student roster, which has all the class’s ID photos on it, to try and figure out Harry’s name and reprimand him for speaking out.

 

“Mr. Styles, I don’t appreciate your outburst. If you use class time as you are expected to, then a week to prepare for an exam is plenty!” Louis decides that he likes Mr. Corden and while he was shocked by the mention of an exam next week, he does have to agree with what he just said. 

 

After that incident, the rest of the class goes fairly smooth as the class learns the entire lecture. Louis feels like he held up alright, math was always hard for him because it is more difficult to write down formulas and other things in braille. But he is now on his way to meet with his teaching aide to go over a plan for the upcoming year. Her name is Helene and she has helped Louis in school  pretty much since he started going . The pair work out ways to help Louis learn the material in the classroom and then the best method for him to work outside of the school setting. 

 

“You want me to walk down the hall with you Tommo?” Stan asks before being shouldered by Harry, who evidently walked out of his way to get in the middle of Louis and Stan. Stan regains his footing, “That was a bit unnecessary if I’m honest mate.” Louis sighs, unaware of exactly what was happening but knowing he wanted to avoid any more drama.

 

“Oh gee! I’m sorry  _ mate _ I didn’t see you there!” Harry snickers before walking out of the room, books held between his arm and his hip. Louis takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. His blindness does prevent him from producing tears but he can still cry. However, he’ll be damned if he cries now, because of some arsehole he just met today. 

 

“Louis-” Stan starts but Louis shuts him down before he can get another word out.

 

“Don’t. Please… Let’s just go to Helene’s office.” He sighs, picking up his cane again, Stan grabbing his books from his desk before the pair head down the hall.

 

~

 

Harry’s day hasn’t been as bad as he thought… The fight he almost got in this morning wasn’t too bad… Would’ve been much worse if a teacher had seen it, but he lucked out there. His classes seem simple enough. To the surprise of many, Harry is actually really smart. In fact he has one of the best records of any student in any of the various schools he’s been in… When he decides to show up to his classes and try. The real issue has been his “extra-curricular activities”, which is all the stuff he has done in school that is probably illegal. 

 

“Hey! Styles!” Harry turns to see that Liam character running to meet up with him, “What’s up mate? How’s your first day here going?” Harry shrugs, a bit weirded out by Liam being so casual around him. 

 

“I mean… Fine I guess? It’s school. Not much else to say.” Harry is itching for a fag but he also has no idea if this school has a courtyard or anything of that nature. “Hey is there anywhere to smoke around here?” Liam nods,

 

“Follow me.” Harry doesn’t like being told what to do, but he figures in this situation he doesn’t look like a suck-up if he does. Liam navigates the crowded hallways with ease, leading them back towards the back of the building. They pass by that blind kid that Harry keeps running into for some reason, and in this moment he decides that he is going to ask Liam about him. He isn’t sure why he wants to know more about him (he never really cares to know more about anyone) so he’s kind of freaking himself out a bit.

 

Liam pushes a door open, and they are greeted by the sunlight and warm breeze. Harry takes a deep breath, feeling better already now that he is away from that stale, crusty school air. He reaches into his pocket, pulling out a cigarette, Liam passing him his lighter. Harry sucks in the chemicals from the cigarette, feeling his nerves ease as the smoke settles inside of his lungs.

 

“So… You know everyone in this school?” Harry asks, trying to sound as cryptic as he can. Liam nods, taking a drag from his own cig,   
  
“Yup. Why? You want the scoop on anyone?” Liam wiggles his eyebrows, “A girl perhaps?” Harry chokes, forgetting that Niall is the only one who knows he’s gay. He isn’t quite sure if he wants to share this information with Liam yet, since he isn’t certain what his intentions are with him. Instead of saying anything he rolls his eyes, flicking his cigarette, watching as the ashes fall onto the pavement below them.

 

“No… Just curious is all…” Harry finishes off his smoke, tossing the butt on the ground, crushing it below the toe of his Chelsea boot. Liam stares, waiting for Harry to continue, “Oh right… Sorry, zoned out. The uh, the blind kid… What do you know about him?” Harry bites his bottom lip, when the hell did he get so awkward? 

 

“Oh thats Louis. Louis Tomlinson.” Harry thinks that name fits the boy very well, listening as Liam continues, “I don’t know too much about him, he is a really good student, a lot of people like him. I’ve talked to him a couple times, there isn’t much to say about him.” Well that was quite underwhelming. Harry was hoping for a bit more information than that. But he doesn’t want to keep pushing because he knows that Liam will then start to ask questions that he really doesn’t want to answer. So he just nods, pulling his phone out of his pocket and checking the time, seeing a text from Niall asking him where he was. 

 

“Right well, I need to meet up with my friend.” Liam smiles, extending his hand out, Harry shaking it briefly. 

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow night?” Shit. Harry completely forgot about that club thing Liam mentioned to him the other night.

 

“Umm… Yeah sure. Don’t make me regret wasting my Saturday night.” Liam just laughs,

 

“Oh shut up! I won’t!” Harry rewards Liam with a no-teeth smile before walking around the outside of the building, seeing Niall waiting at the front of the school. “Neil!” Niall turns around rolling his eyes at Harry’s nickname for him, never liking it, mostly because people actually think his name is Neil.

 

“Where’d you park the bike?” Niall asks, referring to Harry’s motorcycle that he was very excited to ride to school. The boys could have taken the bus but since it’s their last year, Harry wanted to stand out and hopefully piss some people off in the process. Harry pulls the key out of his pocket, starting the motorcycle, revving the engine much more than needed, causing the entire student body to turn and look. Niall turned around, giving the onlookers a wink as Harry drove them back home.

 

~

 

Louis gets on the bus, letting his body fall down onto the seat with a sigh. He’s never felt like this after a first day of school. Normally, he is buzzing with excitement, ready for all the new learning and adventures… But today… Kind of sucked for him? Sure, the classes and stuff went as expected; Louis doesn’t really have a single concern about how he will do in the academic side of things. But as much as he really doesn’t want to admit it, he just can’t get that deep, raspy voice out of his head… The words that came out of his mouth were laced with venom. He has never heard anyone sound so angry at the world before. It probably was supposed to intimidate Louis, but it didn’t. If anything it did the opposite; it intrigued him.

 

“Hey Lou, how was your day?” Fizzy asks as she sits back down next to her brother. Louis smiles and shakes the thoughts of that mysterious Harry Styles to the back of his mind… For now at least.

 

“Not too bad, can’t complain really… How about you Fiz?” Louis rests his head back against the seat of the bus as it starts to move.

 

“It was actually really good! I enjoyed all my classes and made a couple new friends-” Louis can’t help but interrupt, it is his brotherly duty,

 

“I hope none of them were boys…” 

 

Fizzy laughs, “None of your business! And I could say the very same for you!” Louis can feel his face flushing, his cheeks turning red. Fizzy’s mouth is gaping, “Is there a boy you met today Lou!? You better tell me everything!” Louis laughs, wishing his facial expressions didn’t give away  _ everything _ . 

 

“Trust me, it’s not what you think! Just someone new that I find intriguing that’s all!” Fizzy nods her head, seemingly very unconvinced, but she decides to drop it for now. Louis is thankful that the conversation ends there and shortly after the bus arrives in front of their house,

 

“Lou, Felicite! Your stop!” Linda says from the driver’s seat of the bus, reminding them to wait until the bus makes a complete stop before they stand up. Louis can’t help but smile fondly, always viewing Linda in a motherly light. Fizzy stands up, heading down the stairs of the bus first, always stopping at the bottom to see whether or not Louis needs help. 

 

“‘M alright Fiz, thanks.” Louis says, smiling at his sister, navigating his way down the stairs. They thank Linda and head inside the house. “Mum have work today?” Louis says as he drops his backpack on the ground in the hallway before plopping down on the couch, wincing when he remembers his arse is probably bruised from that nasty fall he took this morning. “Ouch dammit.” Fizzy looks over, instincts kicking in to make sure Louis is ok.

 

“Lou what happened?”  _ Shit,  _ Louis thinks. He can’t lie to his sister… He hates to admit it, but he’s tried it so many times and it just never works.

 

“I uh… Fell this morning…” Fizzy’s eyes widen, concern filling them.

 

“Oh my God! Where? Was Zayn there? What happened, how did you fall?” Louis sighed, being reminded of exactly why he didn’t want to bring it up. He absolutely hates when people worry about him, especially his family.

 

“In the hallway and, yes, Zayn was there…” his voice trails off. He really doesn’t want to tell her the reason why he fell because he knows she is going to freak out.

 

“And? How did this happen? Louis you better tell me the truth I swear.” Louis runs a hand over his temple, sensing his headache becoming worse with every passing second.

 

“Someone may have knocked me down…” 

 

“On purpose?” Louis nods and Fizzy’s face contorts with horror, which is very quickly taken over by anger.

  
“Are you bloody joking!? Who was it?” She is yelling now. Louis leans his head back further into the cushion of the couch, wanting the piece of furniture to just swallow him up entirely.

 

“It was a new kid…”

 

“Louis tell me his name right now.” Louis sighs knowing good and well there is no way he is going to win this argument.

 

“Harry Styles.” He hears his sister gasp, “Please Felicite, I don’t know what you’re about to do, but please don’t do it. It was a one time thing, it isn’t going to happen again.”

 

“Oh I know it won’t happen again. Not if I have anything to do with it.” He can only begin to imagine what she is planning in her mind, but he isn’t going to ask because he can’t deal with this right now. All he wants to do is take a nap so he has the energy he needs to do his homework later.

 

“Right, well I’m going up to my room, I want to try and sleep off this headache before I start my homework.” Louis sits up, instantly met with the pain from his head and from his forearm which he landed on earlier. He makes his way upstairs, closing the door behind him, silently praying Fizzy doesn’t make today’s earlier events any worse than they already are.

 

~

 

As soon as Fiz hears Louis’s door click closed she pulls her phone out of her pocket, Facetiming Zayn. He picks up after a couple rings, happy to see Fizzy on the other line.

 

“Hey Fiz! What’s up?” Felicite smiles back briefly, before her face turns serious again, and she may or may not be trying really hard not to cry. She has always felt the need to protect her brother from certain things, bullies in school being towards the top of the priority list.

 

“Can you please tell me everything that happened this morning?” Zayn’s face changes instantly, 

 

“I don’t know-” 

 

Fiz cuts him off, “I know already Zaynie… Lou told me.” She can see that Zayn is surprised Louis actually mentioned a fight to her.

 

“Yeah umm… Basically, this bloke, right arse I reckon… He tripped over Lou’s cane, which was his own fault and then got all pissy that he had fallen and took it out on Louis. He didn’t get very far doing that because I punched him square in the face.” Fizzy covers her mouth with her hand, trying to contain her laughter. She has always been very thankful for Zayn and the friendship he has given Louis over the years.

 

“Zayn, I know I tell you this a lot but I’ll never know how to thank you enough… For being there for him when I can’t.” Fiz can feel the emotion creeping back into her voice, “It just means a lot to me and mum.” Zayn nods in understanding, smiling at her,

 

“I’ll always save Louis… You know that Fiz. He’s like a brother to me too…” Fizzy smiles, before she continues on with the conversation, asking Zayn some more serious questions.

 

“Do you think this is something this guy will try and do again?” Zayn ponders for a moment, clearly thinking about Fizzy’s question,

 

“‘M not sure love… I mean the guy is for sure a real jerk, but Louis seemed pretty keen on forgetting the entire thing even happened. So, I really don’t think it’ll happen again. He just wants to let it be.” Fiz takes a deep breath, mind racing with all sorts of questions and concerns. 

 

“So I shouldn’t call the headmaster and report him?” Zayn gives Fizzy a knowing look, shaking his head to say no.

 

“Fiz you know if I was really that concerned about it, I would have done that myself. Look, if something like this happens again, I will report it. Promise.” Fiz smiles in response,

  
“Alright… I’ll let you go Z. Love you, thanks again.” Zayn smiles, sharing similar sentiments before ending the call.

 

~

 

Harry is laying on Niall’s bed, arms outstretched, supporting his head and thinking about the events of the day.

 

“What’re ya thinking about mate?” Niall asks, turning from his desk to face Harry. Harry runs a hand through his messy curls, eyes glued onto the ceiling.

 

“Honestly, not quite sure. ‘M just pleasantly surprised that today was as good of a day as it was.” Niall’s brows furrow, as he looks at Harry with confusion.

 

“You got yourself into a fight within minutes of being inside the building…” 

 

Harry scoffs, turning his body, using his elbow to prop him up.

 

“Well he deserved it, he tripped me.” Niall looks utterly pissed now.

 

“Mate. You’re joking right? Please tell me you’re kidding.” Harry looks unfazed. He knows he sounds like a complete asshole, but this is the new attitude he is adopting for the rest of his life. He’s not going to care about anything, not anymore. Not that he really cared too much before, but now he really doesn’t give a shit. After seeing the way he loves his mom only for her to constantly show him that she doesn’t love him as much, he has just become tired. He is tired of always seeking her approval, of secretly wanting someone to love him. Which is why he made the choice to quite simply stop trying. He is going to turn his emotions off from now on, they’ve never done him any good, so why keep them?

 

“Niall listen to me. I don’t wanna talk about this kid anymore, ok?” Niall bites his tongue, turning his attention back to his school work for a moment before his stomach starts rumbling. 

 

“Any ideas on what we’re gonna do for dinner?” Harry sighs, feeling hungry himself, but he’s really not in the mood for stealing more canned garbage from the Texaco. He pulls his wallet out of his back pocket, peeking inside to see that he still has about twenty pounds from his most recent pick-pocketing excursion. 

 

“We’ve got enough to get McDonald’s I reckon…” Harry looks up to see Niall’s face beaming with excitement as he almost jumps out of the chair, 

 

“Right, well, what are you waiting for you rotter!? Let’s go!” Harry can’t help but laugh at this fool as the pair head out the door, looking forward to the best meal they’re probably going to have for a while.

 

~

  
  
  


**_Saturday, 19:15_ **

 

Zayn just got over to Louis’s place, eager to hangout with his best mate, but he can’t stay too late today. He’s just hoping Louis won’t ask him too many questions as to why. 

 

“Are ya staying for dinner Z?” Louis asks, turning the page of his favorite book, “Pride and Prejudice”. His mom got him a copy in Braille for his birthday a few years ago and it has become one of his most prized possessions. He places a bookmark in the page, closing it, waiting for Zayn to respond.

 

“I don’t think I’ll be able to stay tonight Lou…” Zayn’s voice is barely audible and Louis knows he’s hiding something from him. “I just have to run some errands tonight.” Zayn is well aware that even though Louis can’t see, he can almost sense when other people are hiding something from him… especially people he is close to.

 

“Hmm… Alright. I know you aren’t giving me all the details, but I am assuming that you will when you’re ready.” Zayn smiles, enveloping Louis into a hug and kissing his forehead,

 

“Yes, of course, I love you Loueh!” Louis can’t help but laugh, trying to push Zayn away, 

 

“Alright, alright, get off of me now, you smell like rubbish!” Zayn joins in laughing now too, “That cologne is downright awful, I hope you aren’t trying to impress anyone on these errands you are doing tonight.” Zayn scoffs, blushing a little, because he knows that Louis isn’t entirely wrong. He isn’t necessarily trying to impress someone, but if it happens in the process of everything else, he wouldn’t be mad about it. 

 

“Right well, I better head out. I love you Lou Lou, if I can I’ll stop by tomorrow.” Louis nods, smiling at Zayn,

 

“Love you too, mate! Text me later!” Zayn nods and heads out the door. He takes his phone out of his pocket, seeing that he’s got a new message from the group message.

 

_ “When u get to Sulley’s, head to the smoke room, its on the left hand side when u walk in.” _

 

Zayn puts his phone away again, trying to think of why he thought this would be a good idea. He’s going to this club to try and get some more friends. He knows that if he makes some new friends, they’ll quickly warm up to Louis too. He also may or may not be trying to impress Liam… the guy he has kind of been secretly crushing on for quite some time now. But that's besides the point. Zayn hops into his old Bristol Britannia, which he loves as if it were his own child, and heads down to the pub.

 

Zayn takes a deep breath, opening the door to the establishment where he is met with an overpowering smell of whiskey and cigarette smoke. He coughs once, playing it off quite cool, (because Zayn is quite simply a cool guy) and makes his way towards the smoke room. He pushes past the hanging red tapestry and sees about twenty other guys sitting in the back of the room. Some are at the bar, others are playing darts and some are chatting. He spots Liam who’s face then breaks out into a big smile as he makes his way over.

 

“Zayn! So glad you could make it mate! We are gonna get started in a few minutes! You want anything to drink?” Liam asks, taking Zayn’s leather jacket and hanging it up on the nearby coat-rack. 

“Uh, yeah, I’ll just have a Foster’s for now I think…” Zayn can’t stop the blush from covering his cheeks, but he’s also quite proud of himself that he didn’t ramble as much as he thought he would. Liam smiles back, heading over to the bar, Zayn following but staying a bit behind while taking in the surroundings. He finds an open seat on one of the leather couches, sitting down momentarily before Liam sits down next to him and hands him the brew. “Cheers.” Liam opens his mouth, about to speak when the sound of yelling comes from the other room followed by the sound of glass breaking. It seems like no one really knows exactly how to respond, and no one really has time to, before the curtains fly open revealing a familiar curly haired arsehole clad in leather from head to toe. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me…” Zayn mutters under his breath.

 

Harry walks into the room as if nothing happened moments before when he arrived.

 

“What are you lot staring at? I know I’m handsome but I really don’t appreciate staring.” Zayn watches as almost every other man in the room abides by Harry’s wishes.

 

“Don’t think they’re staring cause you’re handsome mate, but you keep thinking that,” Zayn responds, Harry’s head turning instantly. His green eyes narrow at Zayn in an effort to intimidate him, but Zayn really can’t give a shit less. Once Harry notices Zayn doesn’t react, he plasters a bright smile on his face, laughing quietly to himself. He walks right over and plops down on the couch right in between Zayn and Liam.

 

Liam looks from Harry to Zayn, his face showing a lot of confusion, which of course Zayn finds to be super cute and endearing.

 

“You two know each other?” He asks, Harry just barely getting his response out first,

 

“Yeah, we just have a bit of a casual fling, y’know nothing serious. Innit mate?” Zayn’s eyes widen while Liam’s face just turns bright red. Zayn is utterly shocked, it’s almost as if Harry knew about his crush on Liam, which is impossible because Zayn literally hasn’t told anyone.

 

“Nothing serious because it’s never happened,” Zayn replies shortly, causing Harry to laugh and Liam to uncomfortably clear his throat and walk away. “What the fuck is your problem  _ mate _ ?” Zayn spits, getting angrier by the second. Harry just laughs again,

 

“I believe you’re the one that has a problem with me… I mean you did land quite a nasty punch on me yesterday.” Zayn opens his mouth to reply, but Harry cuts him off before he gets the chance, “Listen… I won’t tell anyone about your little crush on Liam, if…” his voice trails off. There is a weird playful yet mischievous look in his green eyes. Zayn doesn’t like where this is going at all.

 

“If…” Harry smiles from ear to ear, clearly enjoying every moment of this. “Spit it out you bastard.” Harry’s smile grows even more, despite Zayn not thinking that was possible.

 

“Oh darling, I don’t spit… I swallow.” Zayn looks at the ceiling, trying to focus on literally anything else to calm himself down. He is interrupted by Harry laughing obnoxiously at his own joke, “Anyway… I will keep your little secret if you tell me a little bit about your tiny friend.”

 


	3. Nick the Dick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry becomes more & more intrigued with Louis & decides to distract himself with a new friend. but will his new found friendship lead to any regrets?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone! I am back with an update. just wanted to put this note here in lieu of the recent tragedy that has struck the Tomlinson family once again. as you know, Felicite is a character in this story & I just cannot bring myself to write her out or change the character to someone else. if you are not comfortable with this, I completely understand as I battled with this decision myself for a bit of time. 
> 
> I incorporated a nice brother/sister moment in this chapter to pay tribute to her. She is already greatly missed by so many, including me. RIP Fiz .xx

Zayn has always been protective of Louis, he feels almost like a big brother to him even though Louis is older by less than a month. So when Harry wants to know more about Louis, it sends red flags up in Zayn’s mind.

 

“Why the fuck do you want to know about Louis? I swear on my mum’s life, you better not be plotting anything against him you piece of sh-” Once again, Zayn is unpleasantly interrupted by Harry’s laugh.

 

“Will you calm your tits for a second mate? Jesus Christ, can’t get a word in edgewise with you.” Harry pauses to take a sip of his drink, swirling the liquid around in the glass, “Isn’t it interesting how alcohol affects people in such different ways?” Zayn looks at him, utterly confused, not understanding how this relates at all to what they were just talking about.

 

“Can you cut to the chase here please? Why do you want to know about my best mate?” Harry smiles wickedly.

 

“He’s very intriguing to me. Despite his… issue, he didn’t back down from me, he wasn’t intimidated by me at all.” Zayn scoffs,

 

“You really think that highly of yourself don’t ya? Did you ever think that maybe he wasn’t intimidated by you because you are just a wannabe thug?” Zayn watches, taking note of how Harry instantly stiffens at the insult, the green in his eyes turning more hazel almost. Zayn doesn’t know how else to explain it other than he can see the anger stirring inside Harry’s body. 

 

“Perhaps I should go have a quick talk with Liam…” Harry says, his voice filled with nothing but bad intentions. Zayn panics, and as much as he hates giving into Harry, he just isn’t ready for Liam to find out about his true feelings for him.

 

“Wait… What do you want to know? And don’t think I’m telling you everything, because it's not happening.” Harry smiles, clearly satisfied Zayn succumbed to him, but that anger is still radiating from him.

 

“I thought you’d agree, Darling…” he gently slaps Zayn’s cheek. Zayn instantaneously pushes Harry’s hand away, causing Harry to laugh. “So Louis… Is he single?” Zayn can feel the bile rising in his throat, he knows that Harry has bad intentions, but he can still maybe determine how this conversation goes.

 

“It's a bit complicated.” Zayn simply states, proud of himself for the plan he has created in his head. He can see that that statement is definitely not what Harry was expecting.

 

“I’m listening…” Harry is staring at Zayn intently, watching his every move, as if he’s trying to figure out whether or not Zayn is pulling his leg.

 

“Well… He’s been on and off with this guy, but no matter what their relationship is, he is always going to be his best mate.” Harry chews on the inside of his cheek,

 

“So he’s… gay?” Zayn shrugs casually in response. Harry is growing more and more agitated with him. 

 

“I guess you could say that, I wouldn’t label Lou though.” Harry notes the nickname Zayn used for Louis; that may come in handy later.

 

“Right, well, it has been a real pleasure talking to you Zaynie. I’ll see you around honey.” Harry stands up, head feeling a little cloudy from the whiskey he’s been consuming since he arrived. He doesn’t quite know what to do with the information Zayn just gave him. There’s a weird sort of feeling inside him at the mention of Louis being with someone else. But it isn’t jealousy, because Harry doesn’t feel that. Anything he wants, he can easily obtain.

 

Harry stops thinking for a moment, eyes scanning the room, noting how everyone else in it is very similar to him. Tall, physically intimidating, wears a lot of leather, and smokes like a fish. Someone in the corner of the room catches his eye, but before he has a moment to walk over to the man, he feels a hand come around to rest on his shoulder.

 

“You make any friends yet H?” It’s Liam, who looks much more loose than when he had that awkward encounter with Zayn on the couch. Harry knows it’s from that strong drink in his hand. 

 

“Haven’t really gotten the chance to talk to anyone yet.” Liam nods, looking slightly more irritated now than he did before.

 

“Yeah you were talking to Malik for quite a while…” Harry tries to hide his smile, noticing right away how jealous Liam is, and evidently Liam himself notices too. “I mean- not that I’m like jealous or anything. Nope definitely not that at all.” Harry nods, a chuckle escaping his lips,

 

“Right, sure you are Liam. S’alright if you are though, maybe he feels the same.” That statement evidently flustered Liam, whose face has just turned as red as a beet. Harry can sense an awkward silence setting in, “So, you mind introducing me to the other members of this… club of yours?” A happy smile comes across Liam’s face as he nods excitedly,

 

“Yes of course! Let’s go!” He sets his empty glass down on top of the bar before grabbing Harry’s arm and pulling him around the room. Harry is almost certain that this is the most he has ever socialized in one night… like ever. He is also trying to consciously remember to keep an eye out for that mysterious man he saw earlier.

 

Harry is about ready to just say “fuck it” and give up on whoever this guy was until he sees him right in front of him. 

 

“Harry this is Nick, Nick this is Harry…” Harry takes in as much as he can about this mysterious man. He can almost instantly sense that this guy is bad news, even more so than Harry himself. 

 

“Good to meet ya… Harry.” The man’s voice is deep, not quite as deep as Harry’s, but enough to make goosebumps prickle onto Harry’s skin. Nick licks his lips as his eyes rake over Harry from head to toe. Harry decides to take that reaction to himself as a compliment, mentally reminding himself that it has been quite a while since he has had any action in the sex department.

 

“You as well, mate.” Harry takes this time to look at Nick, noting how his tall lanky build is quite similar to his own. Harry doesn’t really find him attractive but he’s drunk enough now to make out with anyone… Well maybe except for Liam, he thinks, because that would be weird.

 

“Right, well I’ll leave you two to chat, stay as late as you like, the room is booked out for the evening. And if you liked the club tonight, our next official meeting will be next Saturday; same time, same place.” Liam smiles as Harry nods, Nick meanwhile not even paying attention to Liam. His eyes are still glued onto Harry. Harry thought it was endearing at first, but now it’s getting a bit uncomfortable.

 

“So, you think you’re gonna join the club?” Harry asks, desperate to make this situation less awkward for himself. Nick bites his lip now, eyes locked onto Harry’s lips,

 

“Are you going to join the club?” Nick echoes. Harry narrows his eyes at the man in front of him, trying to figure out what he is up to. But then his mind gets back to what Nick actually asked him, which Harry hasn’t fully considered yet. If he’s honest with himself, this group of people has already felt pretty “homey” to him, so yeah, he thinks he is going to join this little club of Liam’s.

 

“Yeah I think I am…” Harry smiles a bit at the thought of having a group of people, almost like a brotherhood around him. It is something he’s never had before and the idea of it is something he surprisingly doesn’t hate. Nick interrupts his thoughts,

 

“Well then it looks like I’m gonna be joining too.” He smiles at Harry, Harry still trying to figure out whether or not he finds Nick attractive or creepy. But Harry isn’t one to show any kind of weakness, especially if it has to do with flirting and stuff. So to fight this, Harry decides to just flirt back, probably more than he needs to. 

 

He takes a couple steps closer, spreading his legs out, Nick standing in the middle of them, a devious smirk covering his face. He places his long, skinny fingers on Harry’s waist, Harry letting the alcohol in his system take over his thought process at this point. He pulls Nick into him, his fingertips gently digging into the back of Nick’s neck as their lips meet. 

 

It is in no way, shape, or form a kiss with any kind of emotion behind it. Unless you consider “horny” as an emotion… because then there was a lot of that. Harry feels like Nick is literally eating him, but he isn’t going to let him assert that kind of power and control over him. Hell no. Harry needs to be in control in situations like these because he is not in control of any other situations in his life. He can feel Nick’s fingers sliding up under the front of his shirt, touching every inch of Harry’s porcelain skin. It is in this moment, that Harry is truly, undeniably spooked as the image of a shorter man with chestnut brown fringe and an unmistakable fire within him suddenly pops into his head. Harry pulls away from Nick instantly, rather shaken as to why he thought of Louis. 

 

“You’re fucking fit, oh my goodness.” Nick says as he goes to pull Harry back in for another kiss. Harry steps back, moving away from him. If Harry was paying attention to Nick he would see the way his eyes shift to hold such massive amounts of anger. But the next thing Harry knows, is that Nick is pulling him rather roughly into him, forcing himself onto Harry. 

 

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Harry asks, stunned as he manages to get himself out of Nick’s grasp. Any other person would be fearful of the anger Nick holds in his eyes, but not Harry. 

 

“You shouldn’t have done that babe. I tend to remember everything…” Nick’s voice trails off, laced with venom, before he picks his leather coat off the back of the chair nearest to him and leaves the room. He leaves behind a completely stunned Harry, who is still trying to process why he thought of Louis while kissing Nick.

 

~

 

**_Sunday, 14:20_ **

 

“Such fucking bullshit.” Louis throws his pencil down in frustration. Fiz looks at him, gently rubbing his arm, trying to get him to calm down and refocus.

 

“Lou, you are so close to getting it. I can’t begin to imagine how frustrating it is, but believe me you are doing so good. You should be proud of yourself.” Louis runs a hand through his hair, taking a deep breath. He can’t express in words how much he loves his sister. They share such a unique and special bond. 

 

“How are you always so positive?” Louis asks, the tears threatening to boil over, in part from frustration but also from pure admiration. Fiz smiles at him, wrapping her arms around his neck, giving him a gentle squeeze.

 

“Because you’ve shown me that no matter what the obstacle is, with the right attitude, you will overcome it.” A single tear rolls down Louis’s cheek as he is so genuinely touched by his sister’s kind words.

 

“I love you so much, darling.” The sibling duo hug each other tightly, this sentimental moment a bit of a rarity because most of the time when they’re together they are laughing.

 

“I love you too, brother. Always.” Louis wipes his tears with the cuff of his sweatshirt sleeve, giggling a bit,

 

“I defo need a tutor for this class though, or I am royally screwed.” And the two get right on back to laughing. 

 

**_Monday, 09:45_ **

 

Louis is hoping that this day goes better than the last school day and so far, it is. He is planning on speaking with Mr. Corden after school today, to see if he has anyone that can tutor him for his math class. Right now though, Louis is heading to his music class, which he will never understand why he has to take since it is virtually impossible for him to play a musical instrument.

 

“Hey Louis!” Louis slows his walking, allowing whoever it is that called him to catch up, even though he isn’t sure exactly who it is. “You’ve got intro to music theory next?” The guy says, and his thick Irish accent is telling Louis who it really is. It’s asshole Harry’s friend. He thinks his name is Neil, but he isn’t 100% sure of that.

 

“Yeah, that would be where I’m heading. You in this class as well Neil?” Louis says, silently hoping that he used the correct name, but judging by the man’s laughter, Louis is beginning to think he was wrong.

  
“Neil, the only other person who calls me that is Harry!” Niall continues laughing, Louis’s cheeks red with embarrassment. He’s not really fond of being associated with Harry, no matter the circumstances. “I don’t mind being called Neil. But for all intents and purposes me name’s Niall.” Louis decides he likes this Niall, but he can’t help but wonder if he has any ulterior motives. The only thing Louis really knows about him besides his name is the fact that he’s Irish and he’s friends with Harry. He knows he better be cautious at first, just to make sure Niall is as genuine as he seems.

 

“Well from now on, Harry won’t be the only person who calls you Neil.” Louis can’t help but giggle as Niall breaks out in hysterics once again. 

 

The pair enter the music room, Niall asking Louis if there is anything he could do to help him out. Louis is rather endeared by this, and while he appreciates the gesture, he knows enough about his own routine to be able to handle himself.

 

“Mind if I sit next to you Louis?” Louis shakes his head and Niall plops down on the seat next to him. “Would ya also mind if I called you something else?” Louis chuckles,

 

“Oh God, is this payback for the Neil thing?” Niall howls in laughter once again,

 

“No you rotter! I just think Louis is too plain for me. I wanna be different, call you something unique!” He pauses for a moment, clearly in thought, “What’s your last name?” Louis already does not like where this is heading.

 

“... Tomlinson?” Niall hums, trying to come up with some unique and cool nickname for his new friend that has never been done before.

  
“I’ve got it!” Niall shouts, clearly startling every other person in the room (Louis included), “Tommo! Yes, that sounds sick! Tell me that doesn’t sound sick mate! The Tommo! Wow I’m good, aren’t you glad you are mates with me!?” Louis can’t help but shush him because Niall is actually yelling in the middle of the classroom, but he also can’t stop laughing.

 

“My friend Stan already nicknamed me that!” Louis says as Niall looks rather angry that he is not the first person that thought of the nickname. “Just add the ‘the’ and it’ll be brand new, created just by you Neil.” Niall beams with pride at Louis’s approval and Louis can’t help but smile at this newfound friendship.

 

**_Monday, 14:00_ **

 

Harry’s been out of it all day long… Which isn’t anything new but today is worse than normal. He hasn’t been sleeping since the incident with Nick on Saturday night. Louis has literally been haunting his mind and he hasn’t thought about much else. It’s actually starting to piss him off a bit, this has never happened to him before, and he’s about ready to do anything to get this guy out of his head. He just needs a distraction…

 

“Harry!” Harry hears a familiar voice, his eyes widening as he turns around to see Nick walking towards him. He is wearing the same exact outfit he wore on Saturday, his entire body drenched in cologne. “I thought you’d be a bit happier to see me babe.” Harry cringes internally, wishing that Nick would stop calling him that.

 

“Didn’t know we were giving each other nicknames…” Nick chuckles casually, leaning his lanky body against the wall behind him, 

 

“You’ll be mine before you know it…  _ Babe _ .” Nick winks again, eyeing Harry’s lips carefully, “So you mind showing me to my locker?” Now Harry is really confused,

 

“What is it like your first day or something?” Harry was under the impression that Nick has been going to this school just like everyone else here, but evidently he was wrong in assuming that.

 

“Nah, school was never really my thing… But once Liam said you were going here as well, I figured why not give it another go. Besides, I’d get to see your pretty face every single day.” Nick’s fingers tug at the belt loop of Harry’s jeans, pulling him in closer, 

 

“I’ve gotta give you one thing, you are quite bold.” This might just be the distraction that Harry is looking for. Something to get Louis out of his mind. So Harry leans in, kissing Nick’s lips, putting all of his effort into the kiss so he doesn’t have any room left in his head to think about anyone else. Nick tastes like cigarette smoke and whiskey, which is definitely not the most appealing combination, especially when kissing is involved. But hey, it is working as a distraction and at this point that is all Harry needs. Strictly a physical diversion since there was no emotional attachment to Nick whatsoever. Everything is going just as Harry wants it to,   
  


“Harry mate! Already on the prowl I see!” Harry can hear Niall approaching him, so he pulls away, rolling his eyes lovingly at Niall’s banter. Nick bites his lip, watching Harry’s every move, but what Harry doesn’t expect to see is Niall’s company. He’s standing behind Niall, wearing a striped t-shirt and red trousers that are clingy so tightly to his thick thighs- Shit. Why is Harry even noticing these things? He knows Louis can’t see him, but he also knows that Harry is standing right here since Niall announced it. Louis doesn’t even bother to say a word to him, as if he doesn’t even exist. Harry cannot believe how intriguing Louis is.

 

“Trying to turn a cane into a fashion statement there mate? I’ve gotta be honest, I don’t think it’s working for ya.” Nick says, clearly making fun of Louis, not even phased by the fact that no one is laughing at his attempt at a joke. 

 

“Niall can we just go? I don’t have time to deal with dicks like this.” Louis turns around and starts to head down the other end of the hallway, seemingly to the math class he has with Harry. And wow, Harry cannot stop staring at Louis’s bum in those trousers.

 

“Fucking hell.” He mutters under his breath, biting his lip momentarily before Niall distracts him again. 

 

“Sure Tommo, I’m right behind ya! H, I will be waiting for you outside after school!” Harry nods, eyes following Louis’s every move.

  
“What’s the matter with the twink?” Nick asks, grabbing at Harry’s shirt again, trying to get him closer.

 

“He’s blind.” Harry states simply, pulling himself off Nick so he can head to his locker and grab his math books.

 

“That’s a shame. He’ll never get to see his own glorious arse.”  Nick says, Harry trying his hardest not to react because he knows if he does, Nick will see that Harry feels  _ something _ towards Louis. Something that even he doesn’t know how to describe. So he keeps his mouth shut and honestly, he’s never felt shittier for not speaking up. “Wait before you go, are you free to meet up after school tomorrow?” In this moment Harry just wants to get as far away from Nick as he possibly can, and he knows the quickest way to achieve this goal is to just agree to whatever it is that he wants.

 

“Yeah sure.” Harry slams his locker closed and heads towards Mr. Corden’s room, leaving Nick looking very suspicious behind him. 

 

~

 

“Alright class, great lecture today, I am fairly impressed with some of your pop quiz scores! I will be handing those back to you at the beginning of tomorrow’s class. Also, don’t forget our first exam is coming up this week! Have a great rest of your evening and I will see you all tomorrow!” The class begins to pack up their belongings just as the bell rings, signifying the end of the school day. Louis places all his books in his pack,

 

“Hey Stan, would you mind taking my stuff and waiting outside, I just need to talk to Mr. Corden for a quick sec.” Stan smiles at Louis, reaching over his own desk to grab Louis’s backpack,

 

“‘Course Lou, I’ll be in the hallway.” Louis smiles at his friend, before picking up his cane and heading to the front of the classroom, completely unaware of Harry’s presence just outside the classroom where he is listening in on their conversation.

 

“Mr. Corden, do you have a moment?” Mr. Corden looks up from his papers, smiling as he fumbles around trying to find his seating chart.

 

“Louis, right?” Louis nods in response as his teacher continues, “What can I do for you, young man?” Louis sits down in the seat located right next to Mr. Corden’s desk, resting his elbow on the hard wooden surface,

 

“I’m just a bit worried about this upcoming test… Math has never really been a strong suit for me due to my, uh… handicap…. And I was wondering if you knew of any students who could maybe tutor me?” Harry is listening intently but doing his best to make sure he remains hidden. 

 

“Hmm… Well it is a bit tough because I don’t have much to go off of, as we’ve only had one pop quiz… but… one student did score leaps and bounds above the rest of the class. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind giving you a little additional assistance outside of class!” Louis smiles, nodding eagerly at the plan his teacher has set in place.

 

“That would be lovely! Would you mind giving me a bit of a heads up as to who my potential tutor will be?” Louis doesn’t really know what he was expecting but he most definitely wasn’t expecting this.

 

“Harry Styles.”

  
  
  



	4. Within the Orange Walls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry officially becomes Louis's math tutor but Louis finds that he is learning much more about Harry than he is about math... and he's ok with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Sorry it took me so long to get another chapter up, I kind of lost inspiration to write, but I'm back now, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter. The plot line is going to continue to thicken and things are going to get ugly soon... just a warning. :) any comments and feedback are greatly appreciated. .xx
> 
> ALSO MY MAIN TWITTER ACCOUNT IS CURRENTLY S*SPENDED SO MY BACKUP IS @GUCCI__GHOSTS

“Harry Styles? Certainly, Mr. Corden, that has to be some kind of a mistake, surely he couldn’t have-” Louis is cut off by his teacher making an effort to interrupt him.

 

“Mr. Tomlinson. I assure you that I made no mistake. Harry Styles has performed far beyond any of the other students in your class and judging off his previous academic history, it might very well do him some good to assist another student.” Louis doesn’t know how to respond to this, so he decides to just not say anything at all. Instead, he nods his head agreeing to Mr. Corden’s proposal. “Excellent, I will update Harry after class tomorrow and then the two of you can work out a meeting.” Louis nods, but he is certain that his face is giving away how sick he feels. There is no way he can work with Harry. It just simply will not work. Louis doesn’t have the patience to deal with someone who is so concerned with their own reputation that they are disrespectful to others. He grabs his cane, maneuvers his way over to Stan, who is waiting out in the hallway.

 

“We need to go. Right now.” Louis states simply, feeling the anxiety bubbling up in his tummy. Stan can instantly see that something isn’t quite right with his friend. 

 

“Take a deep breath Lou…” Stan turns back around, still watching Harry, who looks awfully shell-shocked, exit the back of the building. “Any idea why Harry was waiting outside the classroom with me?” Louis suddenly feels more nauseous than he did before.

 

“What do you mean?” He keeps his steady pace towards the door, desperate to get some fresh air. 

 

“The entire time you were in there, Harry was standing right outside the classroom. I thought he was just texting someone, but he didn’t leave until he heard you coming.” This just doesn’t make any sense. Why was Harry waiting? Why was he evidently listening to Louis’s conversation with their teacher?

 

“Oh my God… That means he knows about the tutoring…” Louis mumbles, barely audible. Stan stops moving,

  
“Louis what did you say?” Louis tries to swallow the lump in his throat. He stops walking, turning his body to Stan’s direction.

 

“I asked Mr. Corden if he knew of any students that could help tutor me in math…” he pauses briefly, “and he said that one student did so well on our pop quiz that he would recommend him to tutor me.” Stan is waiting for Louis to continue, but is growing slightly impatient.

 

“Ok…” he says gently, trying to coax his friend along. Louis takes a deep breath, 

 

“He said that Harry would be my new tutor.” Stan’s eyes grow wide for a moment before confusion sets in. 

 

“Wait. Harry did good on the quiz? Harry’s smart?” Louis scoffs a bit,

 

“Apparently. Mr. Corden said that he did a lot better than the other people in class.” Stan shakes his head, clearly surprised about this new information himself.

 

“Well… We’ll worry about the rest when we get to tomorrow alright Lou? Try not and stress about it too much right now. There isn’t anything we can do.” Louis is always so appreciative of Stan and his friendship that has consistently gotten stronger. He nods in response to Stan’s idea and heads towards the bus.

 

**_Tuesday, 07:46_ **

 

Louis can’t help but feel a lot of anxiety as he enters the large arched doors of the school building. He isn’t sure if it is all just from the idea of having to talk to Harry after class or if there is something else bothering him. There is this weird feeling of impending doom that he can’t seem to shake. But he thinks he knows where its coming from when he senses an unfamiliar presence around him.

  
“Hey Louis…” the boy’s voice trails off and while he didn’t say too much Louis can tell it is filled with bad intentions. Louis stays quiet, waiting for the boy to continue, “My name’s Nick, it’s lovely to finally meet you.” Louis can’t help the uncomfortable shiver that runs down his spine as he feels Nick abruptly touch his shoulder. He jerks his body away from Nick in response which only causes Nick to laugh menacingly. “No need to be afraid of me babe.” Louis wants to vomit at the use of the word babe. Who does this guy think he is? He doesn’t even know him.

 

“Trust me, I’m not afraid of you, Nick. I would just really appreciate it if you’d not call me babe.” Nick’s face contorts in anger, but he tries his best to keep his voice calm. 

 

“I sincerely apologize… babe.” Louis bites his lip, trying his best not to react because he knows that’s what Nick wants him to do. But when he feels Nick’s hands on him again, Louis can’t help but snap.

 

“Excuse me, please get your hands off of me.” His voice is stern, not filled with an ounce of fear even though on the inside Louis is extremely uncomfortable. He can feel Nick getting closer, invading Louis’s personal space, and not giving a shit about it. He feels Nick’s hot breath hitting the side of his face, filling his nostrils with the smell of cigarette smoke,

 

“Babe, you will learn this quickly. I do what I want. I don’t really take no for an answer.” Nick snickers, Louis growing more and more unsure of how to handle this situation. 

 

“Nick, back up if you don’t mind.” Louis hears that deep voice that could only belong to one person: Harry. He can feel Nick back away, “You’re blocking my locker.” Louis tries to hide the grin creeping in on his face because both he and Harry know that Harry’s locker is not near Louis’s. 

 

“Well good morning to you handsome. I’ll see you later for our date.” That grin that is on Louis’s face instantly disappears. Just as he thought Harry wasn’t as bad as he seems, Nick changes his mind. Why would Harry associate himself with a disgusting sleazebag like Nick? If only he could see the anger take over Harry’s face. Harry is utterly shocked at the use of the term ‘date’ because they both know that isn’t what this gathering is. Louis tries to pack his things as quickly as he can, thanking the good Lord above that Zayn meets him at his locker a few seconds later.

 

“Z please help me I feel sick…” Zayn looks at his friend, face full of concern, and just as he is about to reply, Nick feels the need to open his big mouth once again.

 

“Malik! Haven’t seen you since the meeting Saturday night!” Louis feels even more nauseous now. Why was his best mate with Nick? What kind of meeting was on Saturday night? Why is Louis finding this out from someone that isn’t Zayn? 

 

“Shut the fuck up Grimshaw.” Zayn spits, helping Louis to his feet, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. Nick laughs,

 

“Oh did you not tell your little twink friend here about the gang you’re joining?” Zayn can feel his blood pressure steadily rising. 

 

“C’mon Lou we’re going now. And what are you looking at Harry?” Harry looks entranced, his eyes locked on Louis. He doesn’t speak a word more, just turns away from all of them, and heads down the hall. “Louis I’m going to tell you about all of this I swear, I was planning on it but I was going to tell you.” Louis just nods, ignoring Zayn for right now, trying to process everything, but mostly trying to figure out why Harry hanging out with Nick hurt so much…

 

~

 

“Babe! Wait, where are you going?” Nick calls, speeding after Harry. Harry was navigating the halls with ease, his long legs allowing him to cover extra ground. He hates how Nick thinks he has some kind of weird control over him. But he’s also determined to show Nick that he is NOT the Alpha here. He turns around, Nick unable to stop in time before the two collide, Nick being sent backwards, as he is obviously the smaller, weaker of the two. 

 

“Nick. I don’t know who you think you are or where you came from, and quite honestly, I don’t care. But let me explain something to  _ you _ .” Harry pushes his middle finger in the center of Nick’s chest, pushing him even further from Harry. “I am not the person you want to try and claim or act like you have some power over me. Because guess what? You don’t. I don’t take orders from anyone. If I tell you I don’t like something,  _ you _ stop doing it. Point blank. It's not that hard to figure out.” While Nick’s eyes appear to be filled with anger, there’s a smile plastering his face.

 

“You’re cute when you’re pissed. It turns me on to be honest…” Harry takes a deep breath, his patience wearing thin quickly. 

 

“Let me just make this awfully clear for you. This hangout we’re having,” Harry gestures between him and Nick, “Is NOT a date. It will never be a date, unless  _ I  _ say that it is.” Nick laughs some more. Clearly he is not taking anything Harry is saying seriously, which infuriates Harry that much more.

 

“Harry… I was hoping you wouldn’t have to learn the hard way, but you are so defiant. What is it going to take for you to realize…” Harry’s hands ball up into fists, his nails digging into his own skin, almost drawing blood. Nick creeps in closer, his lips run along Harry’s ear before he whispers, “I  _ always _ get what I want. I find a way… trust me.” He plants a very brief kiss on Harry’s forehead before turning and walking back the other direction. And for the first time maybe in his entire life, Harry Styles felt ever-so slightly intimidated. 

 

~

 

Louis has felt like utter shit since this morning’s events. Even Niall can’t seem to cheer him up. 

 

“Tommo listen, I know we haven’t been friends that long, but I can tell when something’s bothering ya… You can talk to me about it you know…” Louis faintly smiles, appreciating Niall’s friendship in this moment. 

 

“I just… I can’t seem to get someone out of my mind. And it’s infuriating.” Niall can’t help but look at Louis with a smug look on his face. He snickers a bit, causing Louis to question him,

 

“What? What are you laughing at?” This only makes Niall laugh more,

 

“It’s Harry isn’t it?” Louis’s heart drops to his stomach and somehow he feels even more sick than he has all day. He starts to feel a bit dizzy, so he lets out an uncomfortable cough to try and calm himself down. 

 

“What?” Louis asks weakly. Niall smiles,

 

“Louis listen… Harry might seem like a douche, and he can be sometimes. But I promise you, he’s an amazing person. I owe him my life… I guess what I’m trying to say is, he isn’t as horrible as he seems. So if he does happen to be the person who is on your mind, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.” Louis can only nod in response as he doesn’t really know what else to do or say. But something in that big, golden heart of his, is telling him that Niall is right.

 

~

 

The time is drawing nearer and nearer for the school day to come to a close. Louis cannot wait. It has been a weird day with a lot of weird emotions. But now Louis has to deal with the fact that Mr. Corden is updating Harry on their tutoring situation in only a matter of minutes. Stan keeps looking over to check on him but Louis hates when people worry about him, so he puts on his strong face. He’ll deal with his emotions when he gets home. His thoughts are interrupted by the sound of the school bell.

 

“Louis do you want me to wait or are you ok getting to the bus stop?” Stan asks and Louis shakes his head, “Ok… I’ll see you tomorrow mate.” Louis nods, gathering his books together before hearing his name coming from the direction of the teacher’s desk. His hand wraps around the neck of his walking cane, desperately trying to stop it from shaking, trying to stop thinking about the words Niall spoke earlier.

 

“Alright, so I’m sure you’re wondering Mr. Styles, why I asked you and Mr. Tomlinson to stay after class today…” Harry’s eyes are fixed on his hands, which are interlocked with each other. Both of them are silent, allowing Mr. Corden to continue, “Louis here brought it to my attention that he would like some extra assistance in this class and I nominated you for the task Harry, if you’re willing… I have read through your file and I think this opportunity would be really good for you.” Harry bit his lip, trying not to think about his shitty past riddled with poor decisions. 

 

“I uhh… I agree Mr. Corden.” Their teacher smiles at them then, going through some papers on his desk until he finds what he’s looking for.

 

“Alright, since we have another test coming up next week, I think it's a good idea for you boys to start this sooner rather than later. So when do you want to start?” Louis opens his mouth to speak, but no words come out because his throat is so dry. Luckily Harry steps in instead,

 

“If um… Louis is able to, I would be able to help him today?” Louis can feel his cheeks reddening. He remembers hearing Nick say that he had plans with Harry after school today, so the fact Harry is willing to bail on that asshole is making Louis’s heart flutter a bit. Louis can feel Mr. Corden’s eyes on him, waiting for some kind of response,

 

“That works…” The teacher smiles watching his students work so well together. Louis continues, “Umm… did you just want to take the bus with me to my house?” Harry nods, but then suddenly shakes his head when he remembers Louis can’t see him.

 

“Yes, I just have to tell Niall to take my motorcycle home.” Louis nods, putting his backpack back on his shoulders making his way to the door. Mr. Corden shares his goodbyes with the pair, who start to make their way down the hall towards their lockers. “I’ll meet you at your locker? If that's ok?” Louis can’t help but shake his head at how nervous Harry suddenly is, and as much as Louis doesn’t want to admit it, he finds it quite endearing. 

Since Stan already helped Louis get his books ready to bring home before math class, Louis didn’t need to go into his locker, so he just stood in front of it and waited for Harry. After what feels like an eternity, Louis feels footsteps approaching him,

 

“Ready…” Louis feels a bit bolder now, so he decides to employ some of the sass he’s known for. 

 

“Don’t go shy on me now Styles.” Louis can’t hide the surprise on his face when he hears a guttural laugh come from the man standing next to him, and he can’t deny that it is one of the most wonderful sounds he’s ever heard. “Let’s get going, if we take any longer, my sister’s gonna be calling me phone.” They exit the school building, Harry following Louis’s lead to the direction of the bus. “This is us.” Harry seems very unsure of what to do, he wants to help in anyway he can,

 

“Do you like, need me to do anything?” Louis chuckles a bit,

 

“No, I seem to have gotten this down to a science.” Harry watches as Louis is able to navigate the steps of the school bus with no problem at all. He can’t help but wonder how difficult it must be not be able to see. He wonders if Louis ever struggles with those difficulties… he’s also wondering why he’s wondering all these things.

 

“Hello darling Louis, and who is this handsome new friend we’ve got here?” Harry smiles awkwardly at the compliment from the older woman driving the bus.

 

“Cool it Linda, this is Harry… Harry this is Linda.” Harry nods in her direction, quite unsure of how else to handle the situation. He’s not the best at meeting people in these kinds of situations. He is much more sociable once he’s had some alcohol. 

 

“Well it's nice to meet you Harry. You better look out for my boy.” Another awkward smile later and Harry makes his way to a seat across from where Louis sits down next to the girl that Harry can only assume is his sister. He probably would’ve figured it out even if he didn’t know because they look so much alike. His sister has long brown hair, with the same shade of piercing blue eyes to match. She’s watching Harry’s every move, internally trying to decide whether or not she needs to protect her brother. 

 

“Fiz this is Harry, Harry this is my sister Felicite.” Felicite extends her hand out to Harry, which he shakes, causing the girl to smile. Harry can’t get over how they share that same smile too. 

 

“So I hear you’re going to be tutoring my brother?” Harry nods and Fiz giggles, “Good luck, trust me you’re going to need it.” Harry can’t help but giggle himself, throwing his hands up to cover his face as he tries to contain his laughter. This makes Fizzy laugh more as well and Louis to become more flustered than he was before.

 

“What is this? Why are we ganging up on me?” Louis’s playful attitude instantly disappears at the use of the word gang and Harry assumes it’s from the conversation that took place this morning. When Louis becomes quiet, Felicite becomes concerned, asking her brother if he is ok, if there is anything he needs her to do. “I’m fine-- I’m fine.” The awkward silence is brought to an end by Linda who announces that they have finally arrived at the Tomlinson household. The trio get off the bus and head towards the house and wow… Harry doesn’t even know what to say. It's not a mansion but compared to the places Harry’s lived, it might as well be. 

 

They enter the house and Harry is overwhelmed. He has never really been in a “family home” before. He is in awe of all the portraits on the walls, the pictures of Louis and his sister over the years. Harry can tell they will always be loved more than him and if he said he isn’t envious he would be lying. Truth be told, he has always dreamed of having a family just like this but he knows it's impossible now. He’s given up all hope for it. 

 

“Harry!” Harry’s head shoots up, Louis is calling for him from the other room. “Are you alright? You like weren’t responding…” Harry’s eyes widen as he tries to shake the emotion away from his mind.

 

“Yeah… Yeah, sorry… What did you say?” He makes his way into the kitchen, his mouth instantly watering at the sight of a refrigerator that actually has food in it, hell the sight of a refrigerator at all.

 

“I asked if you wanted anything to eat.” Harry nods eagerly, he hasn’t eaten since yesterday’s dinner so he is more than welcoming to any food he is offered right now. 

 

“Fuck yes, I’ll literally take anything.” Louis laughs and Harry can’t help but take in the absolutely delightful sound,

 

“You sound like it’s been days since you’ve eaten anything.” Louis continues laughing, unaware of Harry’s change in demeanor.

 

“Trust me one day without food is enough.” Louis is really confused now. Has it actually been days since Harry has eaten?

 

“Didn’t you eat lunch at school today?” Harry looks at the other boy with a genuinely puzzled look on his face, shocked at how innocent he really is.

 

“No… I uhh, can’t afford to get lunch through the school-” just as Louis is about to cut in, Harry continues, “And I am not going to sign up for those sympathy lunches either.” Its Louis’s turn to be confused as he has really no idea what Harry is referring to by ‘sympathy lunches’.

 

“What are you talking about?” Harry scoffs then, he should have known better than to think Louis would have any idea what he’s talking about and he can’t help it when his attitude starts to show through.

 

“Oh right. You have no idea what those are because you are privileged enough to never need them.” Harry doesn’t know why he says it. Maybe it's because he’s just that ashamed of who he is that he takes it out on others or maybe… maybe he’s just that shitty of a person.

 

“Well at least you’re “privileged enough” to be able to see the fucking world around you.” Harry can hear the emotion in Louis’s voice and now he feels worse than he did a couple of seconds earlier. “... But if you don’t mind telling me what these lunches are, then I would know?” Harry looks at Louis with a sense of awe. Normally when he’s been this rude to someone, he’s been tossed away, punched, told never to come near the other person again, or sometimes arrested… But Louis doesn’t do any of that. He actually told Harry what he needed to hear, gave him a wake-up call, and Harry honestly is very appreciative of it.

 

“Umm… If you fill out this form with proof that your family makes like no money, the school will pay for you to have a shitty meal every day. But I’d rather not eat at all than accept that.” Harry plays with a piece of string hanging from the sleeve of his shirt, avoiding Louis’s eyes even though he knows he cannot see him. He listens as Louis takes a deep breath and Harry can already predict what is about to happen next. Louis will tell him how it's important for him to eat, or he’s foolish for not taking advantage of an awesome program like that. It’s always the same shit. No one understands Harry or his logic.

 

“I actually… get that? Like everyone tries to coddle me all the time because I can’t see but I don’t need sympathy from anyone. The way I look at it, I’m alive and that's all that really matters to me at the end of the day.” Well consider Harry tickled with surprise. That was not the response he was preparing himself for.

 

“No one has actually ever agreed with me before… About the lunch thing.” Harry looks at the man in front of him with a hint of softness in his own eyes. Louis smiles then, and Harry swears the entire room got a little brighter.

 

“I get it… Trust me.” There is a nice period of silence before Harry can smell something burning from the stove, “Bloody hell.” Harry can’t contain his giggles as Louis fights with (what is apparently) a cheese toastie that is a few seconds away from erupting in flames. “Stop your laughing and come help me Styles! I’m not a fucking chef!” Louis says but with a big smile on his face. Harry goes over to help the smaller boy when both of them reach for the handle of the pan at the same time. Louis immediately retracts his hand and Harry is wondering if Louis felt that same burst of energy that he just did. That was fucking weird. Louis finally breaks the slightly uncomfortable silence, “I’m sorry I burnt your lunch, I could make you another one if you want… I’m not the best cook but I’ll try again.” Harry smiles tossing what’s left of his sandwich away in the trash. 

“I could make myself something if it's easier?” Louis puts on his best surprised face looking at Harry with both of his hands on his cheeks. 

 

“You know how to cook?” Harry rolls his eyes playfully, used to that reaction,

 

“Yes, yes I do.” Louis tries to hide his smile as he bites his lip, nodding in approval and he tries to hide the fact that he is genuinely impressed. The two continue with casual conversation and Louis cannot believe how quickly his opinion of Harry is changing. Niall really was right… He is not nearly as cold hearted as he claims to be. If anything, he is exactly the opposite, and for some reason it makes Louis feel all warm and tingly inside. “I guess we should actually get the lesson going since I’ve been here for like an hour and haven’t taught you anything yet.” Louis smiles,

 

“You’ve taught me that you know how to cook…” Harry smiles widely then, dimples popping out from his cheeks, and perhaps a little bit of blush too. “Come on, we can study upstairs.” Harry nods, watching as Louis picks up his cane, using it to navigate up the staircase ultimately leading to Louis’s room. Harry is tempted to ask Louis more questions about his life... How he manages to deal with the loss of one of his senses. And just as he opens his mouth to ask, something… stops him. He can’t seem to figure out what it was. Almost like a force in his mind that he can’t control that prevents him from bonding with people on anything more than a physical level. 

 

The pair enter Louis’s bedroom which is not really what Harry was expecting. The walls are painted with a bright shade of orange, with other brightly colored band posters covering the walls. Harry can’t seem to figure out why everything was so bright when in reality Louis couldn’t see any of it.

 

“It's awfully bright in here, I feel like I’ve entered the inside of a highlighter.” Louis giggles then, his small body plopping down onto his bed.

 

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I have chosen to paint my walls such an obnoxious color when I can’t see a damn thing aren’t you?” Harry scratches the back of his neck, unable to find a way to say yes without feeling guilty for wondering it. Louis takes his silence as an invitation to continue, “I guess it's not so much for me… the color on the walls, as it is for anyone else that may see my room. I wanted these very walls to be a glimpse into the inside of my mind. For some reason… When you can’t see, people assume you live your life in black and white, that everything you do is missing something… That things get boring. But not for me. I refuse to be defined in any capacity. And I always hope that this shows that to anyone who sees.” Harry’s mind is working a mile a minute, trying to take in the beauty of everything Louis just said. His words are so powerful and anytime he speaks Harry wishes there was a crowd around to listen to him. Harry opens his mouth, finally feeling some confidence to speak when Louis’s bedroom door bursts open. They both turn around to find a very surprised Zayn.

 

“What the fuck are you doing here!? Louis what the fuck is he doing here!?” Zayn is screaming, getting very close to Harry’s face, Harry taking note of the change of color in Zayn’s eyes. They are normally a golden brown but now they are laced with red, a perfect personification of his anger.

 

“Bloody hell Zayn calm down mate, let me explain!” Louis stands up from his bed, trying to get in between Harry and Zayn when Fizzy bursts into the room,

 

“What the fuck is everyone yelling about!?” Zayn finds this as the perfect opportunity to speak up, much to Harry’s displeasure.

 

“Felicite this douchebag is the one that pushed Louis down on the first day of school.” Harry is normally not fazed by other people’s perceptions of him but when he sees Louis’s sister’s face contort into a mixture of anger and betrayal, he can’t help but feel like he was stabbed with guilt. 

 

“... Louis, why is he in our house?” She looks to Louis, tears filling in her eyes, as Louis opens his mouth to respond, she talks over him, “Get out of here now Harry. And never EVER come back.” Her voice is filled with nothing but contempt.

 

“Fiz please calm down. He’s tutoring me in math, that’s why he’s here and he’s different--” Louis is cut off by his sister once again,

 

“I don’t care what he’s here for Louis. You’ll have to let him tutor you somewhere else, I don’t want his filth in this house.” Louis can’t even recognize his sister’s voice, he’s never heard her so angry.

 

“Felicite! Apologize right now! I have forgiven Harry for that incident, and the both of you should consider doing the same. Now please get out of my room!” Harry withdraws into himself, not daring to speak another word or even look up to meet the eyes of Zayn and Felicite. “Go on!” He hears the footsteps exiting the room and looks over to find Louis rushing over to him. Louis steadies himself by gripping onto Harry’s biceps and Harry cannot ignore the electricity he feels from Louis’s touch. “Harry I… I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen.” Louis’s normally confident voice is now filled with sorrow and some pity.

 

“Louis you didn’t do anything wrong.” Harry feels a lump in his throat when Louis picks his head up and Harry notices a single tear rolling down his cheek. Without thinking, Harry uses the pad of his thumb to wipe it away. They’re silent for another moment before Louis backs away, clearing his throat and sitting back down onto his bed. Harry looks out the window to find it has gotten rather dark out. He pulls his phone out of his pocket shocked to see how late it is. “Shit, I need to get home.” He looks up to see Louis wiping his face again,

 

“How are you getting home? Is your mum going to pick you up?” Harry has to stifle a laugh at Louis’s question, because it's just a funny idea of his mom actually picking up from a friend’s house or his mom having enough money to have a car.

 

“No… Niall took my bike home so I’m going to have to walk.” Louis takes a deep breath then, 

 

“Ok… Just be safe. Let me know when you get home? If you can…” Harry is surprised to see Louis blushing a touch as his voice keeps getting softer and softer.

 

“And how do you propose I do that without your phone number Mr. Tomlinson?” Harry smiles cheekily at Louis, who’s cheeks have gotten about ten shades redder. He doesn’t say anything else, he simply holds his phone out, waiting for Harry to take it. Which of course he does, “I’ll call you when I make it home ok?” Louis smiles nodding as he picks up his cane following Harry down the stairs to show him out.

 

“I promise we’ll actually get some math stuff done next time.” Harry likes the sound of next time.

 

“Goodnight Louis…” 

 

~

 

After a horrible walk home, that ended up taking Harry much longer than he expected, he arrives home. 

 

“Hey Harry, one of your friends stopped by, he left you a note.” Harry’s brows furrow in confusion as he listens to his mum. He looks all over the kitchen for it, but he doesn’t see any note. Maybe his mom has been drinking again.

 

“Mum are you imagining things? I don’t see any note.” Anne scoffs then, 

 

“Fuck you Harry I’m not imagining anything. He left it in your room.” Harry can feel his anger building. Why would his mother let a random person in his room? He is referring to this “friend” as a random person because the only human he considers a friend is Niall, and his mom would’ve said if it was him. 

 

“Future reference, don’t let anyone in my room.” He says sternly, before walking up the stairs and finding a white sheet of paper on top of his bed. He picks it up, carefully reading every word, 

  
“ _ Babe… You shouldn't have ditched me for that twink Tomlinson today. I saw you get on the bus with him. You’re clearly trying to shag him. And I don’t like sharing you. So I would suggest from now on, being very cautious when you do just about anything. As I’ve told you before, you don’t know what I am capable of babe. Remember this. I get what I want. Nick .xx” _


	5. Happiness at Noon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just when Harry begins to feel like things are finally turning around for him, his world once again comes crashing down. The only difference is this time, he feels like he needs to protect a certain sunkissed boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI EVERYONE! back again with a new chapter! :) things are going to start to get really interesting soon. this chapter introduces a major swing in the plot! i am always welcome to constructive criticism so feel free to leave some comments!
> 
> MAJOR SHOUTOUT TO CAROLINE! my lovely Beta :) her twitter is @kissy_tommo
> 
> also reminder my main twitter is suspended so my @ is GUCCI__GHOSTS

Harry can’t sleep; he ends up tossing and turning all night. He didn’t forget about his “plans” with Nick but he didn’t think Nick would care if he just didn’t go. Harry’s alarm goes off at 6:30 and he is ready to shoot something. “Fucking hell.” He rolls out of bed, not even bothering to change his shirt from yesterday. He slips on a clean pair of black skinnies and his ratty Chelsea boots he stole 2 years ago and heads outside to meet Niall. 

 

“Hey Haz! What's up mate? You look like you haven’t slept in months!” Harry can only glare as Niall laughs at his own statement. When Niall turns though, and sees that Harry isn’t laughing or even cracking a smile he becomes much more concerned. “What’s wrong, H? I’ve never seen you look like this. You look almost… scared?” Harry rubs his eyes, trying to wake himself up a bit. He’s also trying to figure out whether or not he should tell Niall about Nick’s note. He doesn’t want to involve anyone else in this mess, so he decides against it.

 

“‘M fine, let's head out.” Niall still looks worried, but he doesn’t ask anymore questions, he simply nods and hops on the back of Harry’s motorcycle. 

 

The pair arrive to school about 10 minutes later, Harry’s eyes relentlessly looking for Nick. Niall notices something very weird is happening and he vows in this moment to make sure he finds out what it is, to help his friend. “I’ll meet you after school Ni…” And with no other words exchanged, Harry disappears down the hall. Niall turns around and sees his new friend Louis and he decides to talk to him. 

 

“Tommo mate!” A small smile appears on Louis’s face as his friend Stan helps him unpack his backpack and get his books for his first set of classes. “Hey mate, I don’t mind helping Louis with this, I have first period with him anyway.” Stan looks from Niall to Louis, as if to say, “ _ you don’t mind do you? _ ”  Louis replies, knowing Stan is waiting to make sure this is an ok arrangement,

 

“Stan don’t worry, I trust Niall.” Stan nods and pats Niall’s shoulder as he meets up with some more of his friends down the hall. “Thanks for helping me Neil, you didn’t have to do that.” Niall shrugs it off,

 

“Don’t worry Tommo, I don’t mind helping!” He notices that Louis seems a little off today too, and he can’t help but ask what’s bothering him. “You alright Lou?” Niall watches as Louis chews on his lip, mentally debating whether or not he wants to tell Niall what’s really on his mind. 

 

“It’s stupid…” 

 

Niall shakes his head in disagreement, “I’m sure it’s not. What happened?” Louis lets out a deep sigh, grabbing his cane and heading towards the direction of their music class.

 

“So Harry is tutoring me in math-” Niall can’t help but interrupt, as he is genuinely shocked by this new information.

 

“Wait what? Since when? Why didn’t either of you tell me?” Louis rubs his fingertips along his temple, trying to ease the slight ache that's already beginning to develop. 

 

“Niall, I’ll explain the details later. But  _ anyway _ , he came over to my house to study and… we had the best time Niall. Like, what you had told me earlier that day kept resonating in my mind. He was absolutely lovely. And so much smarter than anyone would assume him to be.” Niall smiles a little bit now, enjoying hearing his friend speak about his best friend in such a manner. 

 

“But if everything went so well… why do you look downright miserable right now?” Louis stays quiet for a moment after Niall speaks, trying to figure out just why he was so upset, because every time he says it out loud, it really doesn’t sound like a big deal at all. 

 

“At the end of the night, he said he was going to call me when he got home… And he didn’t.” Niall doesn’t say anything right away, “I know it’s so stupid, why am I so stupid!?” Niall wraps his arms around his smaller friend, squeezing him tightly,

 

“This is so great! From the first day I just had this weird feeling that you and Harry would get together!” Louis can’t help but let out a laugh,

 

“Oh yeah Niall, nearly punching me in the face is quite romantic!” Louis says sarcastically, causing Niall to laugh loudly, the sound filling up the entire hall. Louis likes that he can make Niall laugh like that, it makes him feel good for some reason.

 

“You wanker, you know what I’m trying to say!” Louis becomes shy again, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink as he replies,

 

“Yeah yeah, let’s get to class Horan.”

 

~

 

“I am  _ starving _ . Christ, what time is it?” Niall whispers to Louis, clearly not paying a bit of attention to the teacher’s lesson. Louis sighs, shifting his body weight in Niall’s direction so he can reply,

 

“You’re asking the wrong person.” It takes a couple of seconds for Niall to catch Louis’s joke, but once he does he can’t stop laughing and Louis is mortified because now the teacher is going to yell at them. Instead though, the teacher just shoots them both a dirty look before returning his attention to the white board. The bell rings just in time and Louis feels like he can breathe again until,

 

“Mr. Horan… Mr. Tomlinson, I’d like to speak with you both a second.” Louis feels like he’s going to be sick and Niall couldn’t seem to care less about whatever is about to happen. The pair walk over to Mr. Higgins, awaiting their possible punishment, “You two were being quite chatty today. And you know I’m not a fan of talkers during class time.” Niall and Louis remain silent as their teacher continues, “I’m going to let you both off with a warning this time. If I catch you talking in class again, I’m sending you both to detention. Are we clear?” The two boys nod their heads instantly, earning them a pat on the shoulder from Mr. Higgins, “Alright, you two head along its time for lunch.” Louis can hear Niall gasp in excitement,

 

“Yes!” And Louis can’t resist the urge to just slap him upside the head, giggling a little bit afterwards.

 

~

 

Niall helps Louis back to his locker, asking Louis where his lunch bag is when Louis begins to panic a bit. “Ummm… I can get it.” Niall looks at Louis suspiciously and boy can Louis tell. Niall looks around when he sees a couple of brown paper bags on the top shelf.

 

“I found it. Why do you have two lunches--” Niall answers his own question when he sees an ‘L’ written on one bag and an ‘H’ written on the other bag. “Louis did you… Did you bring Harry lunch?” Louis can’t help but blush, his cheeks giving him away, turning a deep shade of red. He doesn’t say anything else,  simply shoots his hand out toward Niall, feeling for the bags and snatching them back before making his way down to the cafeteria. “Louis wait up! This isn’t a bad thing, I think this is so adorable! But why are you bringing Harry lunch when he gets his own?” Now this captures Louis’s attention… Does Niall really not know that Harry doesn’t eat the lunches he gets from the school? And if Harry’s  _ best friend _ doesn’t know, why the hell did he tell Louis? He himself doesn’t know the answer but it makes him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

 

“Just figured he’d rather have something my mum made than something from the shitty school.” Niall doesn’t question him further, which Louis is really thankful for because he has always had trouble biting his tongue, sometimes he lets things slip out when he really shouldn’t.

 

“Do you see him anywhere?” Louis asks, the lunch bags in his free hand and his cane in the other. Niall is squinting around the room, looking for any sign of Harry but it’s so crowded with the entire student body that he can’t find him either. It's then that the weirdest thing happens. It's almost as if Louis can feel Harry’s presence as he enters the cafeteria, like the two of them are magnetized towards each other. Louis starts to move in the direction of that energy and Niall follows, completely unaware of Louis’s ability to sense his friend.

 

“There he is! Harry mate!” Niall shouts, catching Harry’s attention and waving at him with a big smile. Harry smiles at Niall, but instantly feels guilty when he sees Louis with him. He completely forgot to call him when he got home last night. He makes his way over to the pair who have managed to find an open table. Niall goes to open his mouth to say something to his friend but Harry cuts him off, feeling the need to explain himself to Louis,

 

“Lou, I’m so sorry, I completely forgot to call last night, something really bad came up at home and I--” Harry’s rambling is interrupted by the feeling of Louis’s hand on his own. His skin feels like it’s on fire where it’s touching Louis and he still can’t figure out why. Just as Louis’s hand was there, it’s gone now,

 

“Don’t worry Harry… It’s fine.” There is a very brief silence before Louis pulls something out from beside him. Harry’s heart skips a beat when he sees the smaller boy holding two lunch bags, one of them decorated with the letter ‘H’ in black sharpie marker. This couldn’t possibly be lunch for Harry could it? Did Louis really go to the trouble of bringing Harry lunch because he knew he didn’t want to eat the sympathy lunches at school? “I umm… I brought you some lunch. I thought maybe you’d rather eat my mom’s food than the school’s…” Harry’s mouth is hanging open, utterly speechless. No one has ever gone to such great lengths for him or given much thought to anything he’s ever said before. Niall cuts into the silence now, bringing Harry out of his head and back to reality,

 

“This is the part where you thank Louis, idiot!” Louis giggles a little bit at Niall’s remark, causing Harry to smile fondly at the other boy. 

 

“Thank you Louis…” Harry’s voice trails off, the words he speaks barely audible, but Louis hears them, and now Louis is blushing  _ again _ . Niall starts to talk about random stuff but if Harry is being honest, he can’t really concentrate when Louis is sitting next to him. He smells like fresh laundry with a hint of apples and cinnamon. 

 

“Hey Styles!” Liam says, setting his lunch tray down on the table, joining Harry, Louis and Niall. Harry’s eyes widen slightly, nervous that Liam will mention this club he’s joining to Louis and Niall. “Hello Louis! Hello other friend of Styles!” Louis plasters a small smile on his face, Harry knowing he’s really forcing it. He wonders if Louis likes Liam or if he knows what Liam does. 

 

“Hiya Liam, me name’s Niall! I’m Harry’s best friend.” Niall extends his hand and Liam meets him in the middle, shaking his hand for a moment. The pair begin to have a casual conversation, meanwhile Harry opens his lunch bag, peeking inside to see a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, a bag of salt & vinegar crisps and a few chocolate chip cookies. 

 

“I wasn’t really sure exactly what you like to eat but I just kind of… guessed? I hope it isn’t too bad.” Louis says, his thumbs fiddling around with the cuff of his sweatshirt. Harry gently places his hand on Louis’s shoulder, mentally noticing how his entire hand encases it with ease,

 

“Louis don’t even worry about it. The thought was enough… And it just so happens I love all of these things. Thank you so much. I mean it.” Louis smiles then, Harry still overwhelmed by the beauty of the smaller boy’s smile. It seems like the entire room is lighter whenever Louis smiles. Harry takes a bite of his sandwich, chewing it while continuing a conversation (one of his more annoying habits), “So when do you want to study again?” Louis starts chuckling then,

 

“You are so gross! Stop chewing with your mouth wide open!” Louis continues laughing, which is like beautiful music to Harry’s ears. It’s also contagious so Harry starts laughing too, not noticing how loud they had become until he sees Niall and Liam staring from the other side of the table. Liam looks a bit awkward once he realizes he has been caught staring, Niall on the other hand is looking at Harry and Louis as if he’s their mother on their first day of school. 

 

“Oii! Stop staring! Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” Niall just laughs then and Liam smiles a bit before returning his attention to Niall and the food in front of him. “So are you busy after school today?” Harry asks Louis, watching as he crunches on his crisps and it reminds Harry of a little kitten. Louis is so adorable, damn. Harry watches intently as Louis’s forehead creases with confusion, obviously his head is full of thoughts. 

 

“I think I should be free today. I want to try and get as much done as possible since we have an exam coming up.” Harry sees this as a perfect opportunity to cut in.

 

“Are you saying that we didn’t achieve anything last time?” A playful smirk is on Harry’s face and Louis thinks Harry radiates beauty when he is lighthearted like this. Louis giggles,

 

“We didn’t! Not anything math related anyway!” He continues laughing and Harry wants to know more.

 

“So we did achieve something?” Louis nods in response and Harry continues, “You mind sharing?” Louis smiles then, and Harry is just now realizing how it feels like the only people in the entire room are just the two of them. He isn’t focused on anyone else but Louis and Louis isn’t focused on anyone but Harry. He isn’t used to this kind of attention and it’s actually quite nice to have it. Louis brings his fingertips up to his lips and moves them across the length of his mouth in a zipper motion,

 

“My lips are sealed.” Louis has a cheeky grin on his face and Harry can’t help but smirk, the dimple in his cheek prominent again. In this moment Harry honestly can say that he feels genuinely happy. It’s the first time in a really long time he’s looking forward to something… Even if it does have to do with math. 

 

~

 

The rest of lunch period goes on swimmingly. Harry is surprised to see how everyone has gotten along and is actually disappointed when the bell rings, signaling the start of everyone’s next class. Harry gets up from the bench, helping Louis with anything he needs.

 

“Where should I meet you later?” Harry asks, wondering why he has been blushing so damn much (even though deep down he already knows the answer). Louis thinks for a moment before answering,

 

“You could take the bus home with me again? If you want? Felicite is going home with another one of her friends so she won’t be there. I wouldn’t mind a little company.” Harry nods, goosebumps covering his skin at the idea of being alone with Louis. 

 

“Sounds good… I’ll see you then Lou.”  Louis looks like he is mentally debating something for a brief moment, as he steps closer to Harry before turning on his heels and waving him goodbye as he heads to his next class with Niall. Harry is suddenly alone once again since Liam already left the table a few minutes before lunch ended. Harry stuffs his large hands into the tiny pockets of his skin tight black jeans but not before he folds up the brown lunch bag with his initial on it, tucking it safely away. He turns around directly into what feels like a cement wall, and once Harry realizes what he actually ran into, he kind of wishes it was a cement wall. Instead though, it is the person he has been desperately trying to avoid all day.

 

“Hey babe. Missed me much?” Nick smiles at Harry and Harry can’t help but notice how wicked of a smile Nick has. When Louis smiles, it immediately calms Harry down, instilling a positive vibe within him. Nick’s smile does just the opposite. Harry can sense that it is not a genuine smile, but one that is manipulative and full of ill intentions. 

 

Harry doesn’t reply, instead just stares at Nick with a blank face, figuring the best thing he can do in this situation is not to show how intimidated he really is. Nick seems to have other ideas however, “Did your lovely mum give you my letter?” Harry bites the inside of his cheek, sensing his anger building.

 

“What… do you  _ want _ ?” Nick smiles again, his slightly yellow teeth on full display. He takes a step closer to Harry, his long fingertips running up and down over Harry’s bicep.

 

“I just need you to run some errands for me. Not all at once… over the course of time.”  _ What the hell is this guy getting at here? _

 

“And why on  _ Earth _ would I do anything for you?” In this moment, Harry swears that he can see the look of Satan in Nick’s eyes. Nick’s fingers run down the length of Harry’s arm now, stopping when they get to his wrist, snaking around it and gripping tightly. 

 

“Because if you don’t I’m going to tell Twinky Tomlinson that you just agreed to tutor him for a shag… And besides... you wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to him or his family would you?”

 

Harry’s eyes grow wide. Was Nick seriously blackmailing him? Threatening Louis and his family? 

 

“And what makes you think I care about what happens to Louis?” Harry watches as Nick literally laughs in his face,

 

“Harry, babe, I don’t know who you think you are fooling but it’s certainly not me. I can tell you’re already smitten. Now… Since you don’t want anything to happen to him, this is what you’re going to do.” Nick pulls a crumpled up piece of paper out of his pocket, carefully handing it over to Harry, watching with satisfaction as he opens it. Harry’s eyes skim over the words quickly, 

 

“You want me to deliver your drugs for you?” He looks back up at Nick who looks like he couldn’t be any happier if he tried. Harry can tell that his face is filled with shock and disbelief but he can’t help it. He’s done shit like this before but it has obviously never ended well for him… and things have just started to feel like they might be looking up a bit. “I’m not doing it mate. You’re going to have to find someone else.” He goes to hand Nick the letter back but Nick grabs his hand, uncomfortably twisting his arm,

 

“Don’t know if you noticed, babe, but it wasn’t an option…. Unless of course you want me to pay a visit to Tomlinson’s house.” Harry rips his arm out of Nick’s grasp, stepping back a few feet,

 

“What do you want from him?” Harry asks, trying his best to keep his anger at bay. He watches as Nick crosses his arms and leans in closer to Harry once again, his voice barely a whisper,

 

“I want to fuck him so hard that he’ll be able to see again. He seems to be a challenge and I want to conquer him.” Nick pulls away now, “But since you seem to want to keep him safe, his protection is going to come at a cost.” He takes a few more steps back, but right as he goes to turn away he remembers something else, “And just for the record, don’t think you can tell anyone about this. I mean  _ anyone _ . Because I will find out and I will punish you myself.” With that, Nick turns away leaving Harry alone in the cafeteria trying to figure out what the fuck just happened.

 

~

 

Harry’s mind is going a mile a minute for the rest of the day. He has no fucking clue what to do. It’s like he’s just going through the motions of his day but he’s not actually there. Like he’s there but he isn’t  _ there _ . The only thing that snaps him back to reality is hearing a familiar Doncaster accent calling his name.

 

“Harry? You alright?” Louis has a genuine look of concern on his face, because he can just  _ sense  _ that something is off with Harry. Its almost as if he can pick up on the energy Harry radiates.

 

“I’m--” He clears his throat, which has suddenly become awfully dry, “I’m fine Lou… Don’t worry about me.” He tries his best to plaster on a smile. Harry can sense that Louis is still worried so he tries to do the best he can to get away from the subject. “Let’s go, we don’t want to miss the bus.” Louis nods in response and they don’t speak another word for the entire bus ride back to Louis’s house. But once they are safe within the walls of the Tomlinson home, Louis quite simply cannot bite his tongue any more.

 

“Alright, listen Styles, I don’t know what changed between lunch period and now but you’ve become awfully-” Louis is cut off by his mum, who he really didn’t know was home,

 

“Hi Boo Bear! I’m happy you’re home how was your-” Jay stops herself, unaware Louis has brought a guest home, “Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t know Louis was having company over! My name’s Jay.” She is warm and bubbly. Harry already feels safe around her, like he knows he can trust her. Jay walks over and envelopes Harry into a hug. “You’re quite lush aren’t you?” Harry blushes at the compliment, Louis covering his face with his hands, utterly embarrassed.

 

“Mum  _ please _ .” Jay laughs at the look of horror on her son’s face, Harry doing the same. It isn’t his fault Louis looks so cute doing just about anything.

 

“Alright alright, relax. Now what’s your name hun?” She asks, looking at Harry, her eyes a beautiful shade of blue. Harry assumes that Louis’s eyes are that very same color, under their cloudiness. He doesn’t really know why there is a weird cloudy covering over Louis’s eye, obviously he knows it’s from the blindness, but he certainly doesn’t get the science behind it.

 

“Harry. My name’s Harry.” Jay smiles at him, looking back to Louis and noticing how the two boys seem to have developed quite the connection already. She decides not to ask Louis about it right now, but she definitely will when Harry leaves.

 

“So do you boys want something to eat?” Jay can’t help but laugh at how quickly both Louis and Harry respond with a resounding ‘yes’ at the mention of food. She makes them some pasta before the pair head up to Louis’s room to start the tutoring session.

 

“Your mum is lovely.” Harry says, not elaborating on how he wishes his own mom was like Jay. Louis smiles at the sheer mention of his mother, telling Harry how much he admires her, and loves her. “I wish I had a relationship like that with my mom…” He doesn’t mean to say it, it just kind of slipped out. Louis somehow knows it’s not something Harry wants to discuss right now, so he instead grabs Harry’s hand lacing their fingers together and giving it a squeeze.

 

“Whenever you want to talk about it… I’ll be here.” Harry returns the squeeze to Louis’s hand and can’t find it in himself to let go. They both seem to sense that they’ve been holding hands for a bit too long, so they let go, the two of them clearing their throats awkwardly. “So, I guess we should start talking about math, huh?” Harry chuckles, agreeing even though he wants to continue talking to Louis about just life in general. But Harry feels like talking to Louis about math is better than not talking to him at all.

 

The lesson goes by fairly quickly and the next time Harry looks up at the clock he is beyond shocked to see its nearly nine o’clock at night.

 

“Shit, Lou, I better get home.” He says, jumping up from his spot on Louis’s bed as he starts to pack his books into his backpack. Harry goes to zipper his bag when his phone buzzes, revealing a text from Liam.

 

“ _ Hi all! Sorry for the short notice but we are having an emergency meeting tonight at 9:30! Please try your best to attend, a lot of important information will be discussed. - Liam _ ”. Harry can’t help but sigh deeply considering this just ruined his night time plans with his bed.

 

“You want my mum to give you a ride back? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind…” Louis asks, his voice soft, probably because he’s just as tired as Harry is. Harry begins to type out a reply on his phone but is able to answer Louis at the same time,

 

“No that’s alright Lou, I don’t want to bother her or you anymore than I have already.” Harry replies, putting his phone back into his pocket and slinging his backpack onto his shoulder. Louis stands up walking towards Harry, unable to resist the urge to hold his hand. This hand-holding has really been happening a lot but neither one of them seem to be complaining about it so it just kind of… continues?

 

“As much as I want you to bother me… I don’t know if I will ever get bothered by you.” Louis says as a blush develops over his cheeks, the pinkish color complimenting the golden hue of his skin. Everything that happens next is done without Harry giving it much of a second thought. He can’t help but wrap his arms around Louis’s slim waist, his hands interlocking with each other on the small of Louis’s back. He hugs him tightly, taking in that smell that can only be described as Louis. At first Louis doesn’t know what to do, and because of that he does nothing. But once he wraps his head around it, he hugs Harry back. He stands on his tip toes so he can wrap his arms around Harry’s neck and he nuzzles his nose into the crook of the taller boy’s neck. Louis can swear he feels Harry’s heart beat a little faster now than it was a couple moments prior. It almost feels as if time is moving in slow motion as Harry moves back a little bit, not enough to pull away from the embrace, but enough to gently press his lips to Louis’s cheek. 

 

The kiss only lasts for a split second but Louis can still feel a trace of Harry’s lips on his cheek. Both boys are stunned for a moment, unsure of how this all happened, but it feels right. Everything about it feels right, like it was meant to happen this way. Harry goes back in for one more squeeze before pulling away, trying to ignore how cold it suddenly feels in Louis’s house.

 

“I’ll umm… I’ll see you at school?” Harry asks, his voice sounding nervous, afraid that he took things with Louis took quickly. His uneasiness is calmed when Louis steps onto his toes again, returning Harry’s kiss with one of his own.

 

“I’ll see you at school Hazza…” Louis beams. Literally beams. Harry just wishes he could take a picture of him in this moment because he swears the brightness from Louis’s smile radiates off his body, almost like he is giving off sunlight. He doesn’t want to leave but he knows it wouldn’t be good to miss the meeting so he reluctantly leaves Louis’s room closing the door behind him. He can hear the television on downstairs and he’s kind of hoping it isn’t Felicite because he doesn’t want himself or Louis to be yelled at again. He quietly tip-toes down the steps and is almost to open the front door when he hears Jay’s voice,

 

“You leaving Harry?” She turns to face him, rubbing her eyes, evidently just waking up. Harry nods, watching as Jay stands up making her way over to him. She wraps him up in a hug, “Thank you Harry.” Harry is confused, pretty sure he didn’t hear her correctly. Jay pulls away, a genuine smile on her face, her eyes wet with unfallen tears, “Thank you for making my boy smile like he has been. I haven’t seen him this happy in a long time.” Wow. Consider Harry speechless. How does he even respond to this? His mouth is just hanging open because… wow.

 

“Jay… I’m the one that needs to thank Louis. He’s made me really happy too…” Jay smiles warmly, pulling Harry in quickly once more,

 

“I’ll let you head out. Come back soon, ok?” She waves to Harry who gives her a thumbs up, fairly certain he’s going to be over a lot more.

 


	6. The Come Down Effect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ghosts of Harry's past come back to haunt his present self and he doesn't know if he will be able to resist. All he knows is that he needs to do whatever it takes to keep Louis safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone! I'm back with another update. This chapter was very difficult to write as the subject matter is very heavy and I don't have any personal experience with it. I researched the topic as I was writing, but there is a good chance there could be some inaccuracies! Here is a brief disclaimer in case any of these subjects make you uncomfortable:
> 
> PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THERE IS THE USE OF EXTREMELY ADDICTIVE AND DANGEROUS DRUGS IN THIS CHAPTER. IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW IS STRUGGLING WITH ADDICTION, HERE IS SAMHSA’s National Helpline – 1-800-662-HELP (4357). 
> 
> ANY ITALIC TEXT IS INDICATIVE OF A FLASHBACK OR DREAM.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter, a lot of other events will occur based off the ones in this chapter :) constructive criticism is always welcome and appreciated!
> 
> (SHOUTOUT TO CAROLINE MY BETA (@kissy_tommo), AND MY MAIN TWITTER ACCOUNT IS BACK!)

Harry arrives at Sulley’s at exactly 9:29… so he’s pretty much on time for his own standards. He walks into the pub, heading towards the infamous Smoke Room, his nose instantly filling with that distinct cigar smell. In the corner of the room, Harry can see Liam, who is surrounded by a bunch of other men clad in black leather jackets. He makes his way over, determined not to acknowledge Nick… if he even shows up. Harry can only pray that he doesn’t. He awkwardly smiles as Liam makes eye contact with him,

“Styles! So glad you could make it, sorry for the short notice mate.” He gestures towards an empty chair and Harry sits down in it, trying to make himself as comfortable as possible, despite how uncomfortable he actually is. Liam redirects his attention to the group now, eyes darting all around, evidently taking attendance in his head. “Right well, I guess Grimshaw isn’t coming… So we can get started.” For the first time in 24 hours Harry feels like he can actually breathe. He lets out a sigh of relief, his body sinking back into the plush velvet cushions of the chair, never feeling more grateful for this smoke filled oasis. “Basically I decided to call this meeting to go over the rules of this society. That being said, if any of you do not want to be a member, now is your last chance to walk away without repercussions. If you stay now and later become disloyal to your brothers and this organization, you will regret it.” The group remains quiet as Liam talks, the current members looking over the new prospects, making sure they are listening to what Liam is saying. Harry’s eyes scan the room stopping when they reach Zayn, who is looking at Liam with a softness in his facial features. Harry watches as Liam’s gaze meets Zayn’s and he smiles at him, causing the black-haired boy to blush. Harry can’t help but wonder if that is what other people see when he is around Louis… Louis. Even his name can make Harry break out in a smile. “Styles!” Liam shouts, Harry’s eyes go wide as his neck snaps up, attention re-focused onto the meeting. Once Liam feels like he has regained control of the entire room, he continues his speech about the rules of the organization. “The purpose of this brotherhood is to provide you all with a safe haven. If you ever need anything, I’m reassuring you now that every single man in this room will help you to the best of their ability. You should never feel afraid to speak to us.” The group nods, prompting Liam to continue,

“However, there are certain behaviors that are not tolerated. If the club were to find out that one of our own is involved in these situations, immediate termination will follow.” Liam takes a deep breath, sounding slightly distressed as he continues, “Once we terminate a member, it is nearly impossible to regain our trust…that being said, here is what you are not to do.” Liam turns to one of the large men sitting on a chair behind him, retrieving a stack of papers. He walks over to the guy who is sitting on the opposite side of the room as Harry, instructing the boy to take a paper and pass it down. Harry is the last person to get a form and as soon as his mind can comprehend the typed words on the page his mouth goes dry. “Right so as you all can see here are the following activities that are not tolerated: engaging directly, or indirectly in any kind of homicide… Don’t kill anyone.” A couple of the men snicker at Liam’s blunt language, but Liam doesn’t appreciate it, “It isn’t a laughing matter here mates.” He makes direct eye contact with the pair, neither of them uttering a single peep now. Harry observes the current members and the way they all grow quiet as if they are remembering something. Liam’s brown eyes look like they are glazed over with tears, but he holds in his emotions, remembering where he is and what needs to be done. “Drug dealing. Don’t get involved with it. If you are tempted to, come to one of us, we can help you. A lot of people think that you can only become addicted to drugs if you are taking them. It’s a dangerous assumption. Dealing drugs can also become addicting, and it can get you in more trouble than you may have bargained for.” With every word that comes out of Liam’s mouth, Harry begins to feel more and more faint. He has completely zoned out, his mind wandering, thinking of all the worst case scenarios that can come out of this mess he’s got himself into. He can’t help but wonder if he blacked out because the next thing he knows, Zayn’s coming up to him.

“Styles. You good? What’s wrong with you? You look like you’re gonna puke.” Zayn asks, Harry confused by Zayn’s sudden interest in his well-being, especially considering the last time he saw him they almost got into a fight. 

“Why would you care?” Harry asks, his voice dismissive, since his mind is still swirling with more pressing matters. Zayn laughs a little,

“I don’t. But for some reason Louis seems to care about you, and if Louis cares then so do I.” At the mention of Louis’s name, Harry’s mind ceases to worry about anything else. He is really in deep, isn’t he? A small smile spreads across Harry’s face and Zayn can’t help but smile at that himself. Zayn continues, “And… since we are brothers now, I figure I better give you a chance.” Harry nods at that, wanting to tell Zayn something without telling him the entire story. He scratches the side of his face before nodding his head towards the corner of the room, heading that direction, Zayn following.

“I need you to know something. I am telling you this and I need you to always remember it.  _ Always _ . Even if it seems later on like I was lying, I’m not.” Harry’s voice serious and he has Zayn’s attention now. Harry takes the silence as an invitation to continue speaking, so that’s what he does. “I… I’ve never experienced love in my life. So I don’t know what love feels like…but, the way I feel about Louis… I’m imagining it’s pretty damn close. Which is mind blowing even to me because I just met him but…his outlook on life, the way he makes me feel inside… I just-,” emotion cuts Harry off, tears welling in his eyes. He takes a deep breath, clearing his throat before continuing, “I am going to protect him. Ok Zayn? No matter what it takes. Remember this conversation. Remember that I am doing this to protect him, his family, and literally anyone else. Tell him. In case one day he doesn’t want to speak to me.” After his speech, Harry can’t bring himself to make eye contact with Zayn; that is until he feels a hand on his shoulder.

“Harry… You heard what Liam just said, right? They will help you with whatever is going on. Because evidently something big is happening.” Zayn says, his voice gentle, like it usually is when he is talking to Louis. In this moment, Harry understands why Louis loves Zayn and is very thankful that he does have Zayn around… especially if something happens to Harry. “Tell them… Come on, I’ll go with you.” Zayn goes to grab Harry’s arm to bring him in the direction of Liam, but Harry tugs his arm away.

“Zayn… You don’t understand. I have already said too much. This is a really serious situation that I’m in. If anyone finds out about this, or if anyone finds out that I’ve mentioned stuff to you, I’m going to be in trouble and so is Louis.” The green in Harry’s eyes is dark, specks of brown swirling around with worry. Zayn looks like he wants to say more, but the worry Harry is conveying seems to get across to Zayn and he doesn’t speak another word. 

Harry was feeling better a couple minutes ago, but when he gazes at the clock on the wall, he is reminded that his nightmare truly begins in two hours. Harry can’t take anymore. He needs to get out of here. He needs to go home and scream into his pillow and cry until he doesn’t have any tears left. Without any warning, Harry bolts to the door, throwing it open, the cool nighttime air helping to put out the fire he feels on his skin. He runs home as fast as he can, hoping that using all of his energy will allow him to calm down a bit. He makes it home in what feels to be record time, breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of an empty house. He most definitely cannot deal with his mum right now. He pulls a glass out of the cupboard, filling it with some water from the tap, quickly finishing the glass, taking note of how the cold liquid glides down his throat. He sighs once again, his eyes always looking at the clock. Maybe he could get a quick nap in before he has to leave the house again. His brain thinks this is a good plan, so he makes his way up to his bedroom. 

“Harry where the fuck have ya been?” Niall shouts from his position on Harry’s bed, Harry meanwhile was so startled he ends up on the ground, Niall laughing.    
  


“What the fuck are you doing  _ here _ !?” Harry retorts, Niall rolling his eyes. 

“I’m here because I’m worried about you, that’s why. You’ve been acting strange the past couple days. You know you can talk to me if something’s happening right?” Niall says, toning down the humor in his voice to make sure Harry knows he is being serious. Harry nods in response but he can’t hold back his emotions anymore. His knees give out while he’s attempting to stand and e collapses back to the floor, his entire body racking with sobs, his hands shake violently. Niall is stunned, he has never seen his best friend cry, so to see him this weak temporarily renders him speechless and unable to move. Harry lets out another painful wail, which snaps Niall out of his paralyzation, allowing him to run over to Harry and envelope him into the biggest hug he could muster. He doesn’t really know what to say to Harry since he doesn’t know what’s causing him to feel this way, so instead Niall just holds onto his friend, letting him get all his emotions out. Harry on the other hand, is gripping onto Niall for dear life, afraid of what might happen to him if he lets go. 

Ten more minutes goes by like this before Harry finally works up the courage to break the hug, using the palms of his hands to try and wipe some of the tears from his eyes. He looks at Niall, who evidently also cried at some point during Harry’s own breakdown session. Niall finally breaks the heavy silence, “H… Are you ok?” Harry’s eyes are staring at the ground in front of him, a strange emptiness overtaking his body. He bites his bottom lip hard, trying to feel something. Anything. And it absolutely terrifies Harry when he can’t feel any pain despite the fact he can taste the metallic sting of blood being drawn from his lip. 

As much as he doesn’t want to admit it, he can feel himself slipping back into his old ways. His mind devoid of any kind of emotions, which he has always tried to use as a defense mechanism, despite the fact it has only ever made things worse for him. And yet as much as he wants to scream at his own inner thoughts, beg himself not to allow old habits to resurface, he can’t seem to find his voice. With one final deep breath Harry speaks, “I’m fine.” His voice is harsh, to the point that he can’t even recognize it. In his mind he is trying to figure out how everything suddenly took a turn for the worse yet again. Everytime Harry begins to feel like he is making progress, turning his life around for the better, a big roadblock falls down from the sky, preventing him from ever going anywhere. Usually Harry can sneak around it somehow and walk away scathe free. But this time is the first time where he can’t do that… because someone who he deeply cares about is at risk too. Fuck. The thought of Louis reminds Harry of the imminent task ahead of him, he pulls his phone out of his pocket, his eyes drawn to a series of new messages. A bunch from the Society group chat, one from Nick… and one from Louis. He knows he is going to regret it, but he taps on Louis’s voice message,

_ Hi Harry… I don’t really know why I’m calling… I guess I just have you on my mind. I hope everything is ok. Thanks again for coming over today. Ummm… Alrighty well, I’ll see you tomorrow… I hope. Bye Haz. _

“Was that Louis?” Niall asks, Harry almost completely forgetting he wasn’t alone in his room. Harry runs his fingers across his temple, knowing that more tears would fall if he hadn’t just cried them all out. He simply nods at Niall before opening Nick’s text reminding him of their meeting spot and not to be late on his first day. He looks at the time once more before he locks his phone tossing it onto the bed behind him. No other words are exchanged between the pair, Niall can only watch as Harry grabs a black hoodie from his drawer, pulling it down over his curly hair before making his way towards the door. “Where are you going H?” Niall asks, already having an idea of where his mate is heading but silently hoping that he’s wrong.

“To get a high.” Harry says, his voice stern but his heart begging him not to do it. Not to go back down this path yet again. Niall feels like he’s going to hurl hearing these words come out of Harry’s mouth and before he can utter another sound, Harry is out the door and Niall can’t help but let out a scream.

Harry can hear his friend’s anger from outside his home and he tries his best to ignore it as he stalks down the alleyway looking for his old dealer, who went by Slim. Thoughts are flooding Harry’s mind, so much so, that he can’t even begin to comprehend what they might be saying. All he knows is that he needs a fix, he needs something that will temporarily clear his mind, something that can allow him to deal Nick’s drugs without remembering it tomorrow. Harry knows deep down this is the only way he will be able to complete this task. His sober mind would never allow him. Especially with the idea of Louis judging him, hating him even, for doing this. If only he understood that he was the reason Harry was doing this, to protect him and his family. He turns another corner, feeling relieved when he sees the tall, skinny figure of Slim at the end of the alley. He doesn’t realize that Slim can see him, so when his hoarse voice calls out to him, he’s a bit startled.

“Styles. Haven’t seen you in a dog’s age mate. Where’ve you been? Thought you got clean?” Slim asks, the streetlight behind him casting a spooky glow over his skeleton-like appearance. Harry feels bile rise in his throat at the reminder that he was clean. He still is clean, but Harry knows he is about to change that. He also knows that if he tells Slim he hasn’t had a fix, he won’t give him one now.

“No, that was a rumour.” Harry says, making sure to maintain eye contact with the drug dealer the entire time because he knows if he were to look away, Slim would know for certain that he was lying. “I’ve just had to be much more lowkey about it, my mum started to get a bit snoopy, didn’t want her to find something.”

Slim seems to accept that answer and motions for Harry to follow him into his “office”, which is just an abandoned office room that the gang uses for their dealings and other business. 

“Right, well how much do you want then?” Slim asks, sitting down in the wooden chair behind the table, which looks like it was random pieces of wood that were thrown together. Harry debates for a moment, before remembering he doesn’t have that much money to his name. He pulls his fake leather wallet out of the back pocket of his jeans to find that he doesn’t have any money at all.

“Fuck, I don’t have any money,” Harry says, wishing he thought of this before now. Slim laughs at this,

“Harry Styles doesn’t have money? Since when? You always used to make good money stealing from those petrol stations,” Slim replies, his voice growing more and more suspicious of Harry’s motives here. Harry just continues with his original lie,

“Like I said mate, really had to tone things down. If I kept it up my mum would’ve reported me to the authorities.” 

Slim nods, running the tip of his index finger along the length of his ‘desk’ before stopping at the drawer where Harry knows he keeps the drugs. He carefully opens the drawer, awakening an old desire in Harry. Back when Harry used to shoot up often, he would always feel a rush of energy and excitement beforehand, since he knew what was about to happen in his body. And no matter how much his body tries to fight the feeling now, Harry knows that deep down he can’t fight this urge much longer… especially when the temptation is right in front of him. Slim knows this. He has known Harry for a long time, practically raised him during one point of his life, 

“I’ll tell you what Styles. I’ll let you have a freebie just this once…” Slim’s voice trails off, Harry’s body lunging forward with anticipation, “If…” Slim continues, Harry losing all his momentum with that one word, “If you agree to do me a favor sometime down the line… Whenever I need assistance.” This was always how Slim manipulated the younger guys that roamed the streets back in the day. Harry was all too familiar with that infamous word of ‘if’ and always complied if it meant he could keep Slim happy and keep feeding his addiction whenever he felt like it. But now he’s older, wiser, and he doesn’t want to make his own situation any worse than it already is.

“I will agree… If… You can assure me that this favor is a one time deal and a one time deal only.” Harry says, feeling a bit proud of himself as he stares at Slim who is clearly contemplating Harry’s counter-offer. After what feels like an eternity but was only a couple of minutes, Slim agrees. Harry nods as his way of saying thank you and watches as Slim finally unlocks the drawer reaching in and pulling out a premixed syringe of water and heroin. Harry quickly grabs it and without thinking twice, jabs the needle into his arm, pressing down the plunger. His eyes go wide, pupils constricting with the effects of the drug already coursing through his veins. Harry places the now empty syringe back on the desk, thanking Slim profusely for his kindness. He checks his phone and realizes he has to run to the docks to meet Nick on time. 

Harry arrives at the meeting place with a couple minutes to spare so he crouches down, his body leaning forward in an effort to try and slow the rapid rate of his breathing. Moments later he could hear footsteps approaching him, unsurprised to see Nick, his skinny face surrounded by the black hood of his jumper. If someone were to imagine a drug deal, this is literally exactly what they would be picturing. Two people clad in black clothes, in a secret yet suspicious location. No words are exchanged as Nick passes Harry the individual bags of white powder along with a list of buyers. Harry shoves the items into his pocket and stalks away, refusing to make any additional contact with Nick. He might be high right now but he still knows that he wants nothing to do with the person who has single-handedly ruined his life all over again. 

“Harry!” Nick says repeatedly, in a shouted whisper, loud enough for Harry to hear him but no one else. “Harry!” Finally Harry stops and spins around to face the other man.

“What?” The last thing Harry wants to be doing right now is standing around. He wants to go to the club, he wants to dance, he wants to forget about how he’s letting his life go back to shit.

“Where you heading?” Nick asks, his shorter legs working twice as fast to keep up with Harry’s long strides. Normally Harry wouldn’t actually tell this prick where he’s going but the drug is making Harry rather carefree.

“Flare’s.” Harry’s heartbeat grows faster as the pair approach the building with the colorful lights pouring out through the windows, causing the cobblestone streets to be fully lit at nearly midnight. It almost feels like the ground is shaking under his feet from the bass of the music steadily pounding. He opens the door, his nose immediately filled with the scent of alcohol and marijuana. “Fuck, yes.” Harry goes right up to the bar, ordering his usual drink of vodka and cranberry juice when he feels a hand rest on his hip. “Nick get the fuck off of me, what are you even doing here?” Harry’s words are beginning to slur now, the combination of potent drug mixing with the alcohol he is very quickly ingesting. Nick can tell that Harry’s behavior isn’t just from the vodka.

“Did you take something?” He asks, very curious to hear Harry’s answer. As he is going through replies in his head, he can’t seem to think of a good one so the only thing he ends up saying is, 

“None of your business.” Harry turns away from Nick now, heading to the heart of the dance floor, his vision becoming a bit blurry, pleasure starting to fill his body. “ _ Who needs emotions when you can just feel this all the time?”  _ Harry asks himself before he freezes. Emotions… Louis. Fucking hell. That guy has somehow managed to wiggle his way back into Harry’s brain even now. “No! Get out, you aren’t even here right now....” In reality, Harry is talking to a stranger but in his mind he is yelling at Louis, who is looking more handsome than ever, with a beautiful shiny sheen on his perfectly tanned skin. 

“Of course I’m here, I’m standing right in front of you babe.” The man says, Harry feeling himself harden at the use of the pet name. Harry has no idea how Louis got here, but he can’t resist the urge to get closer to him. He doesn’t smell like he usually does, but Harry assumes that’s because his clothes have absorbed the smells of the club. Harry wraps his arms around the other man’s waist holding him close, the effects of the drug really beginning to kick in now, making it rather difficult for him to stand upright on his own.

“I’m really glad you’re here…” Harry stammers before he runs his fingers through the smaller man’s hair. The other man moves in closer to Harry, connecting their lips. Harry has been dreaming of this moment for what feels like an eternity now, so he can’t help but deepen the kiss.

Unbeknownst to Harry, however, a very sober Nick is across the room watching everything. He pulls out his phone and gets some photographic evidence in case he ever needs to convince anyone of what has happened tonight. An evil smile spreads across his face because now he has a chance to get with Tomlinson while also being able to keep Harry dealing for him. Now that he has the proof he needs, he runs over to Harry, splitting up the pair. Harry’s eyes find him and Nick has to admit, he’s rather speechless.  _ He definitely took something…  _

“What the fuck are you doing, Nick? Seriously!” Harry says, his voice slurred to the point that Nick can barely even understand what he’s saying. Nick puts on his best acting,

“I’m stopping you from making a bad situation worse. That chap you are sucking face with wasn’t Tomlinson,” he says, directly into Harry’s ear to make sure he heard, and Harry heard it loud and clear. For a split second his vision clears, enabling him to see that the man he was snogging in fact wasn’t Louis. In fact he didn’t even look remotely close. Harry has to get away, he needs to get out of here. He stumbles to the bathroom where he pukes up everything he has eaten in the past 48 hours and he’s unable to stop tears from spilling out of his eyes, too.

“What have I done?” Harry says, his voice weak and shaky with emotion. He knows he is experiencing the “comedown” effect from the drugs he took earlier, which is making him that much more emotional. He knows he can’t walk back home, not on these streets, not in this condition. He scoots over to the side of the stall, propping himself up on the wall of the bathroom. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and scrolls through the contact list, his thumb hovering over Louis’s name before he realizes there’s no way he can call him this late at night. He regretfully keeps scrolling until he finds Zayn’s name and he taps on it, his phone dialing the number. Harry puts the phone to his ear, praying to anyone listening that Zayn picks up. After a couple of tedious rings, Harry’s prayers are answered.

“Hello?” Zayn says, his voice heavy with sleep. Harry goes to open his mouth in response but a sob comes out instead. “Harry? Y’alright? Where are you?” Harry’s heart begins to race, anxiety coursing through his veins. He goes to stand up from where he’s been sitting on the floor of the bathroom, but he is unable to move.

“Help,” Harry chokes out before his voice is swallowed up, his entire body feels like it’s drowning. Everything he hears sounds like its coming from above the surface.

“Harry, mate where are you?” Zayn asks frantically. 

“The Flare… bathroom... ” Harry says, right as he begins to feel his body slowly falling into unconsciousness. His body is sweating, his heart is beating out of his chest. The phone falls from his hand landing on the tile floor of the bathroom moments before Harry’s body collapses with it. Harry doesn’t know how much time passes by when he sees two people running over to him, right before he blacks out again.

_ Harry wakes up on the old street he grew up on. He looks from left to right trying to make sense of how he got back to this awful time in his life. He follows his memory, running back to the old house where he used to live with his mum and step-dad Ralph. Harry can’t help but shudder at the sheer sight of the tiny brick building. He approaches it cautiously, something inside calling out to him, begging him to enter. He enters the house to hear screaming coming from upstairs and Harry can already feel in his gut what he is about to walk into. He makes his way up the flight of stairs, feeling the rickety floorboards creaking beneath the soles of his worn out Chelsea boots. When he makes it to the second level of the house he can hear the distinct sound of a boy and a woman crying. The sound grows louder and louder as Harry walks closer and closer to his old bedroom. He gently pushes open the wooden door, only to be met with a scene that will always be implanted in his mind, no matter how many times he tries to push it away. _

_ In the corner of the room he sees his mother, her knees brought up close to her chest, screaming at her husband to stop but yet too afraid to get up and confront him. Her eye is surrounded by a bruise and there are faint remnants of ligature marks around her neck. On the other side of the room Harry sees his younger self being pinned to the wall, Ralph’s hands wrapped tightly around his neck. Ralph is screaming profanities at the young boy, telling him how he shouldn’t be gay, that he was going to help “knock the gay right out of him”, telling him how messed up he is, defective, disgusting. Harry watches as his own eyes roll back into his head, the skin of his face turning a light shade of blue. His mum screams, “You’re gonna kill him, please stop!”  _

_ Harry’s body goes limp and Ralph lets go of the young boy’s neck, his body falling to the floor with a thud. The moment that happens, Harry’s surroundings change entirely, he now finds himself on the streets of the southside. The thick, humid air surrounding him in a fog, the only source of light coming from the street lamps above. There is the sound of music playing from down the alley, attracting both the attention of past and present Harry. Harry follows himself to an old pub he used to frequent quite a bit, even though he should have never been allowed inside. The room is clouded with smoke, filled with people who are either too drunk for their own good or high on some kind of drug. The look on younger Harry’s face is one filled with pain. This was truly how he coped with an abusive stepfather, in addition to being different than everyone else he knew. This is where he would come every single night. To get high and partake in petty crimes in an effort to forget about the cruel reality that was his life. _

_ Younger Harry slams his empty glass down onto the wooden table top of the bar, the older people sitting around him clearly getting entertainment out of seeing the young Harry acting like a drunken fool. Harry watches on, and for the first time, is able to see how everyone around him manipulated him. No wonder he built his walls up so high… The scenery changes again, this time Harry is alone in a petrol station, eyes wide and full of fear. Harry moves around taking in the surroundings, barely able to remember this moment because he was so high when he did it. Nonetheless, his fear was still radiating as the young Harry looked out the windows of the small convenience store at the others. They were signalling to Harry what he needed to get and how quickly he needed to do it, because everyone knew that eventually, the police would show up. Harry went behind the till, using the end of a paper clip to jimmy the lock, allowing the drawer to open. Just as young Harry’s face beamed with pride, he could hear sirens wailing in the distance. He pocketed fist fulls of bills before looking out the window to meet with the others. Only to find that they had abandoned him… Just like everyone always seemed to do whenever Harry needed them. Even his own mother eventually got tired of dealing with Harry and all the problems he ended up getting entangled in. If Harry’s being honest, he always resented his mother for leaving him in the dust. He was completely and utterly alone. His guard was high and at the end of the day he simply didn’t trust anyone. He bounced from home to home, school to school, the only steady thing he ever had in his life was drugs and alcohol. _

_ The only day that changed is the day he met Niall… the blonde boy from Mullingar who legitimately made an effort to be Harry’s friend. And while it annoyed the shit out of him at first, eventually Niall wore Harry’s facade down, and for the first time in a really long time, Harry had let someone in. Since that moment, he had truly changed for the better. He ever so slowly got off the drugs and alcohol, and even though he was still going through withdrawals, he had to admit he was proud of himself. He had never felt that before. _

_ Now suddenly he’s in… his bedroom? He can hear voices but he can’t see anything… _

“Harry! Harry! Can you hear me? Harry!” Liam says, shaking Harry’s shoulder violently, him and Zayn both have a look of worry on their faces. Suddenly Harry’s eyes open, his body lurching forward from it’s position on the floor. His entire body is moving with each of his breaths, trying to take in as much air as possible while also trying to recover from that horrific nightmare… Which in reality was just a reminder of how his life used to be, and how it’s turning into the same nightmare now. Liam and Zayn finally breathe after seeing Harry conscious again. “Mate you really had me worried there for a second…” Liam continues, visually shaken up from the event.

“What the fuck happened?” Zayn says, voice laced with concern. Harry blinks a couple of times, trying to remember the night’s events, but only bits and pieces come back to him. He stutters, 

“I… I don’t remember…” He looks around the room, trying to figure out the time or the day… or anything. “What time is it?” He asks, and Zayn looks down at his watch,

“It’s almost 4 in the morning,” he says, as he and Liam try not to laugh at the shocked look on Harry’s face, “Yes, we have school in like 3 hours…” That is all Harry needed to hear,

“Well I guess I’m going to miss a day huh?” He says, undressing himself before sliding under the covers of his bed. Zayn and Liam chuckle a bit before standing up and making their way towards Harry’s door. “I umm… I want to thank you guys for helping me tonight. I’m not good at thanking people for shit since I’m just… Not really used to people helping me… But thank you.” Harry even adds a small smile at the end, and can’t deny that it grows a bit bigger when he sees how Liam and Zayn’s faces light up.

“Remember what I said at the meeting mate… We always have each other’s backs,” Liam replies. Harry nods, watching as the pair head out the door. 

“Now I just need to remember what the fuck happened…” Harry says to himself as he rests his throbbing head down on his pillow, hoping some of his mistakes come back to him.

**_Next Morning at School (AKA 3 hours later)_ **

Louis gets off the bus with a pep in his step. He hasn’t been this happy in quite some time, and Harry is the one to thank for that. As soon as he enters the hallway, his friends can instantly pick up on his positive energy.

“You’re awfully bloody happy this morning, aren’t ya mate?” Stan says, meeting Louis at his locker as he usually does every morning. Louis can’t stop the blush from coating his cheeks,  _ damn I need to stop blushing _ , he thinks to himself,

“I plead the fifth,” he replies, Stan laughing, but when they hear someone approaching, Louis knows it must be Nick from the way Stan fell silent. “What do you want?” Louis says, determined not to show any fear towards this guy.

“I just wanted to give you some information…” He says, and Louis’s interest is suddenly piqued. Stan pipes up now,

“We don’t want to hear anything from you, arsehole, so why don’t you just fuck off?” 

Nick can’t help but laugh at Stan’s voice, “Because… I think Louis would want to know this information… Before he gets anymore emotions for one Harry Styles.” Louis’s heart drops at the sound of this statement. What did Harry do? And will Louis be able to bear it? But there’s no way Louis can trust what Nick says… Right? He doesn’t say anything, he just turns his head towards Nick, as if to tell him to continue, which he does, “I saw him at the club last night, snogging another chap.”


End file.
